Teen Titans: Surfacing Shadows (Season Six)
by Nikkisha16
Summary: The Teen Titans face their greatest threat when an old nemesis returns armed with a deadly plan and a league of villains. Now, all the Titans around the globe must join together to fight. Finding new friends, forming new alliances, and battling new villains, this time the heroes will have to save not just the world but also themselves. (ON HOLD)
1. Episode 1

Hello to all!

Before we begin, I'd like to give you guys some background info. This story is based on the _Teen Titans_ television series; that is the reason why it is called "Season Six" and the chapters referred to as episodes. _Surfacing Shadows_ also includes events from issues of the comic _Teen Titans Go!_―indeed, a lot of material (mainly settings/locations) will be included in this fan fiction. And, of course, material from the original DC Comics shall be utilized as well.

I will always specify at the beginning of each episode how much time has passed since the last one. Per my own calculations―which eerily match up with how long the show ran―the Teen Titans have been a team for nearly three years, from the year 2003 to the year 2006. This sixth season will, like the five before it, have a major plot line and several unrelated episodes.

As to ships, there will be a ton. Here are some major ones from the show and comics: RobStar, BBRae, CySarah, Flinx, and JeriKole to name a few. And this is just the first season of many to come! Since they don't give you nearly enough space for a proper description, here's the brief summary:

**The Teen Titans: Cyborg, Beast Boy, Raven, Starfire, and Robin. They've been a team for nearly three years. In that time, they have defeated super-villains, saved the world at least twice, and begun to create a network for young teenage heroes across the globe. But the five have also become a family as they've each shared and come to terms with their own pasts.**

**Well, each except Robin.**

**As the Boy Wonder works to build new Towers and new teams nationwide, Slade returns to Jump City and to his role as Deathstroke. But when the villain reveals his new league of cohorts, Robin is forced to call home for help, which means enlisting Batman and the entire JL's assistance. And he's not the only ex-sidekick Titan with a bone to pick.**

**Meanwhile, Beast Boy and Raven could finally get around to admitting how they really feel towards one another if the empath can keep her powers under control, Cyborg is spending time with his new lady friend who may or may not be the reincarnation of his warrior love from the distant past, and Starfire's family dilemmas are escalating into an interstellar war.**

**Outside the founding five: Speedy continues his cat and mouse game with Cheshire (unsure of who's who), Jinx misses being on a team, Pantha looks to recruit more honoraries for the south branch, Jericho hides a secret about his origins, Red X decides to start playing the hero again with the Bat Family for his own unknown reasons...**

**And Deathstroke works on perfecting his conscious converting concoction that will change civilization completely.**

**Try saying that one five times fast, and then watch―**

**_Teen Titans: Surfacing Shadows_**

Enjoy!

\- Nikkisha16

_Disclaimer: The Teen Titans featured in_ Teen Titans: Surfacing Shadows (Season Six)_ are owned by DC Comics, and this is a fan-made extension of the TV series produced by Warner Bros. Animation and created by Glen Murakami._

* * *

**It's late June (some weeks after Beast Boy's sixteenth birthday) and only a month since the Titans saved Brushogun in Japan. Happy and relaxed is where our story begins, but that doesn't mean it will be where it ends…**

* * *

**Episode One: ****"Shattered"**

_When Raven's mirror—and mind—shatters, who will be the one to help her pick up the pieces?_

A storm was brewing in Jump City, keeping villains and heroes inside. On the island just off the city docks, there stood a large T-shaped tower. It was owned by a team of five skilled and powerful teens that were charged with keeping Jump City's citizens safe. Called the "Teen Titans", they did their job, and they did it well. The city—and, at times, the world—had been saved on numerous occasions by the Titans, but as of late the dangers were not as widespread. Their most recent large-scale mission had taken place several weeks ago, when the five Titans had traveled to Japan and taken down a secret criminal organization that had been posing as the police force. Since then, life had been moving at a slower pace—or at least, as slow as life could move when you were a teenage superhero.

Today, most of the team was gathered in the Main Ops Room, as usual. Beast Boy was engaged in fierce combat with his fellow Titan and best friend, Cyborg. Their battleground was the television; their weapons were controllers; their fates were imminent.

"Booyah!" Cyborg cheered as his opponent's avatar was defeated. "And the grass stain gets wiped by me yet again!"

Beast Boy sulked, glaring at the screen which continually flashed the "GAME OVER" sign. "There's no way you could always win—you have to be cheating!"

"Nope," crowed Cy, his grin stretched wide. "It's all natural skill when it comes to dominating _Super Ninja Fury 4_!"

"Your 'natural skill' is half-computer, dude!" the other Titan complained, his face set in a square frown of extreme discontent.

Cyborg was now frowning as well. "What, you trying to call me unnatural or something?"

"No, I'm trying to call you a cheater!"

"Oh, yeah? Well _you're_ just a sore loser!"

The argument grew as the two butted heads, and though their other friends were accustomed to their frequent fights, one felt it was getting out of hand. "Please, friends, let us all do the calming down," Starfire pleaded, her green eyes wide. "Arguing is not healthy for a strong friendship."

"Sure it is, Star," Robin replied, who was sitting at the kitchenette's counter to keep a close eye on the Tamaranean princess's latest culinary masterpiece. "All friends argue, some more than others. It doesn't mean they like each other any less."

The redhead sighed as the green shapeshifter and cybernetic human continued insulting one another in the background. "You are right, Robin. The Rekmas will not occur because of one 'chicken-like' fight, yes?"

"Uh, I think the word you're looking for is _paltry_," her masked boyfriend corrected, flinching as Starfire's "meal" let out what sounded suspiciously like a burp.

She turned to face Robin before smacking the yellow-green mixture into submission. "I do not understand. Please, do both words not have the same meaning?"

The Boy Wonder's explanation was cut short as Beast Boy literally _weasel_ed out of Cy's chokehold to shout, "Hey, where's Raven, anyways?"

Starfire gasped as Cyborg managed to grab hold of the green Titan again. "Oh my, she is not present? I must retrieve her so that she may try my blaach tails! Boyfriend Robin, would you stir them so that I may go, please?"

"...sure thing, Starfire..." Reluctantly taking the slightly smoking wooden spoon she handed him, Robin shuddered as Star flew towards the main door. Before she arrived, a splitting scream vibrated through the Tower as a surge of black energy coated the entire Ops Room before they were all plunged into darkness. Dropping the spoon, Robin bent in two and yelped, "Raven!"

"Robin, are you alright?" asked Starfire's worry-filled voice.

Cyborg cut in. "Yo, Star, mind giving us some light?"

The green glow of two starbolts began to light up the room at his words, and Cy quickly walked over to a Tower control unit—a rectangular box beside the door which had a large green handprint to the right below its screen—and pressed his hand to it. His left eye glowed faintly before he turned around to address the rest of the team. "Main power's down, but the backup generators should be kicking in at any minute. Storm's heading off, too."

Robin put a lid on Starfire's food before approaching the others. "Raven caused this, somehow. I felt it in—in my mind."

"Wasn't an electrical surge, that's for sure," Cyborg replied. "And you and Rae do share a bond after she went inside your head that time." [1]

"So, what're we waiting for? We have to go find her," Beast Boy spoke up, vaulting over the couch and climbing the steps to stand beside his friends.

As soon as he stopped speaking, a hum filled the air as the lights turned back on. The sensors at the door recognized a presence, and opened accordingly to show a cloaked figure on the other side. Everyone stared as Star cautiously approached, a worried smile on her face. "Friend! It is wonderful to see you safe; please, what has—"

Suddenly, a light gray hand shot up from the depths the crimson cloak, and a bolt of dark energy surged forward to strike Starfire in the chest, launching her backwards into the couch. The others barely had time to react before black tentacles writhed out, slithering along the floor to grab the remaining Titans and have them follow Starfire's path. The girl had recovered enough to catch Robin, who she quickly set down beside her as Beast Boy and Cyborg scrambled to their feet.

"Dude!" Beast Boy complained, rubbing his messy dark green hair. "That was _so_ not cool!"

"Please, Friend Raven, tell us what ails you," Star begged as the red figure levitated closer, hovering over the steps.

"Uh, guys?" Cyborg said. "I don't think that's Raven."

"Then who is it?" Robin asked, whipping out his bo-staff and crouching into a defensive position.

A sinister laugh sounded as the hood was pushed back to show a face that was exactly like Raven's with one terrifying deformity: four narrow red eyes. The red-cloaked Raven grew taller, a malicious grin spreading across her face as her cloak parted to reveal a shifting darkness in the place of a body. Beast Boy's emerald eyes went wide in recognition as he answered Robin with, "It's Raven's Rage."

At those words, the swirling tentacles emerged from the Red Raven's cloak, created a breeze that made the hem ripple. Robin shouted, "Titans, go!" and the four sprang into action as the tentacles struck. Robin whacked away one as he asked, "So is this Raven or not?"

"Yes, please do tell!" Starfire called from above as she weaved in between tentacles, struggling to stay uncaught. "I wish to know if we may use force!"

"This is a part of Rae, so we can't attack her with all we've got!" Cyborg told them as he punched and pounded the tentacles trying to encircle him. "When me and B.B. went inside her head that time, we met all these different parts of her personality." [2]

"And this one is her mean side!" Beast Boy added, shifting into a mouse with a squeak as he darted around the tentacles that stabbed at him.

Robin twirled his staff to keep the tentacles at bay, walking backwards to arrive next to Cy, who had a reprieve. "But how'd this...'emoticlone' get loose?"

"I don't know man, but I'm worried what it means for Raven," replied Cyborg as Beast Boy shifted back to human form to stand between them.

The green boy laughed and said, "Emoticlone's an awesome name for them!"

Starfire landed beside Robin, throwing a few starbolts at the tentacles to make them retreat before pointing at Rage. "I am sorry, Beast Boy, but I do not believe that _she_ likes the name!"

The others' gazes followed Star's finger as the Red Raven's smile turned into a snarl, the tentacles merging together to form four long, thick chains of darkness that quickly surged around the Titans, wrapping around their bodies before raising them off the ground to eye-level. They struggled to get free as Starfire asked, "Please, Raven, why do you do this?"

"It's not really Raven, Starfire!" Robin called as he tried to pry free of his tentacle's grip with his bo-staff.

Beast Boy suddenly stopped shifting into increasingly larger animals, returning to his human form as he stared at the emoticlone. "That's it!" he shouted. "This might just be a piece of Raven, but this _is_ Raven! And even if this is Raven's dark side, she doesn't hate us!"

The Red Raven's snarl disappeared at the changeling's words, and she slowly shrank, the tentacles releasing the Titans as they retracted back into the red cloak. Robin landed neatly on his feet as Starfire gently set Cyborg on his, and Beast Boy fell to the ground with a loud "Oomph!" They all stared as the glow faded from the emoticlone's four eyes, which became two violet ones that glared at them.

"So, uh, Raven—is everything...okay?" Robin asked hesitantly.

"No," came the reply, short and cold, in a deeper version of Raven's voice. "And don't call me Raven; I'm her Rage."

"Well, _Rage_, what was that all about?" Beast Boy grumbled, climbing to his feet with a frown. "You didn't have to drop us from so high up."

"Be lucky that I dropped you at all," Rage snarled, her eyes briefly glowing red. Closing them, she said in a tightly controlled voice, "Trigon's influence may have waned, but it will never disappear."

"Oh, friend, it is joyous that you are no longer angry with us!" Starfire exclaimed, rushing to give Rage a hug. However, the emoticlone raised her hand this time to stop the flying girl in her tracks.

"Don't. Hug me," she ground out, pulling up her hood. "Raven may not hate you five, but I _am_ her hate, and that's all I feel. So don't get confused about who I really am."

The silence rained heavily upon the group, until Beast Boy gave a nervous laugh and joked, "Jeez, Rae—moody much?"

Baring her teeth, Rage started to grow as she growled, "_What did you say?_"

Cyborg, Starfire, and Robin—eyes wide—stepped back and left Beast Boy alone to deal with "Raven's anger" as they always did. The green teen gulped, pulled at the purple neck of his jumpsuit as he babbled, "Well, uh, you said you only had one emotion, but you didn't have it for us, but now you're acting like you do, and it was only a joke!"

Rage's eyes narrowed, but they didn't turn red, and she returned to her normal height. Glaring hard at Beast Boy, who was cowering on his knees, she circled around him, mumbling to herself, "Why can't I hate you? It should be so _easy_."

"Phew, thank—hey!"

Ignoring Beast Boy, Rage withdrew and faced the other Titans. "Raven is approaching, and it is up to her to tell you what happened. I must return."

She turned away and began drifting to the central door, but stopped when it abruptly opened to show a blue-cloaked figure, which stumbled into the room, bent over and gasping. Lifting back her hood, Raven revealed herself as her eyes met Rage's, which were now a set of four bright red slits once more. "Hello, me," the emoticlone whispered before launching herself at Raven, who opened her cloak to reveal a black energy gate into which Rage flew. As soon as her red boots disappeared within, Raven shut her cloak and fainted to the ground.

"Raven!" yelled Beast Boy as the four Titans ran towards their fallen friend. He arrived first and gently lifted Raven off the ground as she regained consciousness. "Are you alright?"

"Not really," she groaned as he helped her to her feet. "I was in Nevermore, meditating, when something...disturbed me."

"Nevermore?" Robin asked.

"My mindscape. I tried to leave, but problems...occurred. My mirror shattered, and with it—"

"Your mind," Starfire gasped, gently resting a hand on Raven's shoulder. "What must we do to fix you?"

"My emotions are out of control, all except for Rage." She shuddered for a moment, leaning heavily on Beast Boy as her eyes squeezed shut. "And even she is not fully reined in. I need to reabsorb all of my emotions."

Just then, the alarm sounded, and on the window-monitor flashed the alert for Sector 13, where a yellow "H" inside of a black hexagon flashed. "It's the H.I.V.E. Five," Robin muttered. "Raven, can you—"

A flash of black lightning jetted out and broke one of the computer monitors. "Sorry," Raven apologized. "I can't control my powers with no control over my emotions."

"And you obviously can't manage on your own," Cyborg said, eyeing how Beast Boy held Raven up. "B, you should stay with Rae while the rest of us take care of the H.I.V.E."

"You're going to leave me alone with Beast Boy?" groaned the cloaked sorceress, frowning at Cy.

"He's dealt with these emoticlones before, Raven. Plus, we'll be fighting understaffed, so we'll need all the _man_power that we got."

"Yeah, that makes—hey!" Beast Boy fumed as Cyborg grinned before taking off with Robin and Starfire, who paused to wish Raven luck. The rain had lessened to a gentle pitter-patter as he shifting slightly to look at the girl beside him and ask, "So, what do we do now?"

Raven sighed, breaking another monitor before she stepped out of Beast Boy's grip. "The best way to go about this would be to reclaim the emotions in pairs, so that the opposites will balance each other."

"Then I guess we're outta luck, huh?" An elbow nudged her in the side as he continued in a sly voice, "Since the opposite to hatred is looooove."

Gritting her teeth, the other Titan managed to spit out in a reasonably calm tone, "Beast Boy, the lid on my temper is really loose right now, so it's not a good idea to push my buttons."

"Oh, right," came the chastised reply as the green boy slowly slid away, only to quickly pop back to her side when she stumbled. "Hey, if you can't walk I'll—"

Surging ahead, Raven said, "I'm fine; let's just split up and find Love."

* * *

Beast Boy walked down the corridor, calling aloud quietly. "Uh, Love? Love, are you around? Gah, I sound so stupid—and British! Almost like when Mad Mod hypnotized me for the bajillionth time." **(A/N: What episode is being referenced? Hint: Beast Boy is referring to the time that Mad Mod temporarily altered him so that he spoke like a Brit.)**

He passed Raven's room and then stopped, leaning backwards to eye the door with a mischievous grin. "Raven told me to search _everywhere_, so that must include her room. After all, where's a better place to find a Raven than in her nest?"

Still laughing at his indisputably [3] awesome joke, Beast Boy pressed the panel to open Raven's door and wandered in, wiping tears from his eyes with one gloved hand. When he had finally regained his sight, his jaw dropped at the sight before him as the door whooshed shut behind. The room was lit by wickers of candles, the light flickering off the mystical artifacts and stacks of books, illuminating the usually dim quarters and a pile of debris swept to one side of the doorway. And on the rounded bed's indigo sheets lay another Raven, her purple cloak spread out to reveal the black leotard clad figure that was sinuously stretched out, one arm propping up her head. The hood was thrown back to reveal heavy-lidded eyes and a wicked smile on pursed lips which parted and whispered in a smooth tone, "Why hello there, Beast Boy."

"L-love?" he asked with a large gulp._  
_

"In all her bloom," the emoticlone purred, crooking one slim finger to beckon him closer. Blushing bright red, Beast Boy reluctantly inched closer, his gaze shifting from the strange masks on the walls to the potions on the shelves to the purple rug that ran along the length of the room, and quickly darting over Love whenever it landed on her. She gave a soft laugh as he reached the foot of the bed. "No need to be so shy, cutie. I don't bite...much."

Before he could respond, Beast Boy felt the familiar tingle of Raven's magic as Love's eyes glowed white. A hand of dark energy pushed him onto the bed, making the emoticlone laugh again and lean against the ornate headboard. He popped up and immediately scooted backwards, almost falling off the bed as he blurted out, "Uh, I'm not—but you are—I thought you couldn't use magic for anything but levitation."

Rolling her eyes, the Purple Raven unfastened her cloak and folded it beside her on the pillows next to a pile of glass shards, scooting closer to Beast Boy until they were only a few inches away. Crossing her legs, she went into the familiar meditation stance. "Raven may not be able to use magic, but I can. After all, I have no emotions to keep in check, since I am one myself."

Beast Boy looked at her a bit suspiciously. "Are you sure?"

Love rolled her eyes again but was still smiling as she said, "You should know that love never lies. And don't worry, the other me should be on her way any second now—she definitely knows where I am since I used our magic. But still, we have a few moments of quality alone time."

She blushed slightly, and the other Titan gaped at her before saying, "Wow—you sure you're a part of Raven?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Love asked, twirling a lock of short purple hair as she continued to gaze at him, enraptured.

Beast Boy shrugged, more than a bit uncomfortable with her bewildering behavior. "Well, I know that you emoticlones all represent what Raven really feels, but you're acting as if you actually _like_ me."

"Why wouldn't I?"

He gaped at her. "Uh, dude, have you seen the way Raven treats me? While I know that she doesn't hate my guts since Rage didn't kill me, it's not like she's particularly fond of me, either."

Frowning, Love muttered, "And I guess in some cases it's true that love really is blind."

"Wait, you're blind?"

"No, you idiot," she scoffed affectionately, lightly hitting his shoulder. Clutching the black fabric, she dragged him closer as she whispered, "But there's a lot that _you're_ blind to, cutie. Maybe this will help you open you eyes to the truth once and for all; I'm getting tired of being suppressed all the time."

"Um, Ra-Love, what are you doing...?" Beast Boy's voice squeaked as Love's face drew closer to his, the candlelight glinting off the diamond-shaped gem that lay on her forehead. Suddenly those big violet eyes were drifting shut, and he found his closing as well, his heart pounding so hard he was sure that he was going to collapse from a heart attack at any moment.

Their noses had just touched when she rapidly drew back, cursing softly as Beast Boy heard the door open behind him. He opened his eyes in time to see Love lean forward to quickly peck him on the cheek, murmuring a quiet, "See you later, Beastie Boo," into his ear before she jumped off the bed, grabbed her cloak, and strolled over to Raven, who quickly absorbed the emoticlone. They stared at each other for a few moments, both turning red at the realization of what has almost transpired. The shattering of a decorated bowl quickly snapped them out of their trance, and Raven quickly pulled up her hood and exited the room. Beast Boy hurried to follow her lead.

Once he arrived in the corridor, he had to jog to catch up to Raven, who was quickly floating away. Deciding to avoid the awkward topic of "love" for the time being, the changeling instead asked, "So which Raven is next on the list?"

"Now that I've regained a somewhat stable emotional balance, I can sense that Sloth and Knowledge are nearest," answered the girl, coming to an abrupt stop outside of Beast Boy's room. "And they're in here."

"Really?" he said in shock. "How come?"

Raven snorted softly as she pressed a hand to the panel. "For Sloth, it's because your room is a junkyard."

Beast Boy raised his chin as the door slid open. "I take that as a compliment."

"You shouldn't," came the dry reply as the indigo hood was pulled back. Remembering the Purple Raven's words, he stopped for a moment to actually _look_ at the sorceress.

Her hair was as straight as a pin and very fine, like a woven layer of dark violet silk cut in an angled bob. Her eyes were the exact same shade, shaped like wide upside-down trapezoids and outlined with a thick layer of lashes which altogether gave them an otherworldly appearance. In between two perfectly arched brows rested the red-and-black bindi on her ajna chakra. Her skin was a light ashy gray, but the odd color didn't detract from its clarity and smoothness. Her lips were slightly darker, small (like her nose) but still full, the lower one only marginally bigger than the upper. She used to be a few inches taller than Beast Boy, but now that he'd reached a growth spurt, he had managed to catch up to her height. Though she was usually obscured by her cloak, he knew from his sight of Love that the tight black leotard clung to a petite hourglass figure and showed off long legs while covering slim arms.

Shaking his head as she walked further into the room, Beast Boy mentally scorned the direction of his thoughts. There had to be some reasonable explanation for how Love had acted towards him that didn't involve Raven being secretly in love with him. Just thinking that sounded ridiculous. She had made it clear from the day they'd formed the Teen Titans that she was not the least bit interested in him. And while he might have had a crush on her the moment they had met and she'd found his joke funny, that had been nearly three years ago, and he'd long since moved on.

"Ugh, how can you live like this?" Her question shocked him out of his musings, and Beast Boy finally turned his focus back to the present situation to see Raven eyeing the large piles of dirty purple-and-black jumpsuits with a look of disgust.

Trying to shift back into his usual bantering mode, Beast Boy smirked and said, "Hey, I'm allowed to be a guy, aren't I?"

"You're more like an animal," she snarked back, trying and failing to levitate the piles of clothing in search of Sloth. "Robin and Cyborg's rooms are always clean."

"That's because Robin's a neat freak and Cyborg doesn't need clothing!" he tried to argue, but she shushed him as she leaned over the piles, scrunching her nose at the smell. "What is—"

"RAWR!" yelled a brown-cloaked figure as it burst out of the clothes, making a pair of boxer's land on Raven's head. Laughing lazily, the Brown Raven laid back onto the pile, tilting her head back to grin at Beast Boy. "Hey there, partner. Wanna join me?"

"Uh, nothankyou."

She shrugged, scratching at her armpits as she replied, "Suit yourself. Hey, Rae, how 'bout you hop on in?"

Currently, Raven was slowly peeling the underwear off of her, glaring hard at her emoticlone. "No, Sloth," she said through gritted teeth, flinging the boxers so that they landed on the Brown Raven's face.

Sloth just chuckled and flicked them upwards so that her grin could be seen once more. "If I weren't so apathetic, I'd probably challenge you to an underwear fight."

"Thank Azar for the small things," Raven said as Beast Boy meandered to her side. "Where's Knowledge?"

"How should I know where that busy bee is?" replied the brown-cloaked girl as she began moving her arms and legs to make a sock-angel. "It takes _work_ to keep track of all these emotions, Ms. Calm Calamity."

Turning to the Titan beside him, the green boy asked, "What did she just call you?"

"It would take too long to explain. Look, can you please just get up and let me reabsorb you, grossness, memories, and all?"

"Sure thing," Sloth said with a shrug, rocking to her feet as she strolled into Raven's cloak. "It was getting to be too much of an effort being out here, anyways."

As the Brown Raven disappeared, the blue one wandered around the room, passing the bunk bed with its rumpled green sheets as she concentrated. Before Beast Boy could interrupt her, she raised one hand and called, "What are you doing in the closest, Knowledge?"

The door in front of her swung open, and some trash and other junk toppled out of it as the Yellow Raven floated there, legs crossed as she examined the wall in front of her through large round lenses. "Hello, Raven. I was just studying the contents of Beast Boy's personal room in order to glean more information about the boy who we are so curious about. There are several interesting photos on this wall that I'm sure—being a part of your personality—you would love to take a look at."

"Ever heard of personal space?" Beast Boy griped, quickly shooing the emoticlone out of his closet before shoving the spilled crap back inside it and shutting the door.

Knowledge blinked owlishly. "As intellectually advanced as I am, I must admit to ignoring morals at times in the search for answers. My decision was not very wise, which is most uncommon for me, and I hope that you can come to forgive me. It's sufficient to say that I would be devastated if you did not."

Beast Boy scratched his head. "Dude, I don't know half of what you just said, but it sounded like an apology, so I'll take it."

Beneath the hood of her yellow cloak, he could see a small "Raven-smile" form before she turned to Raven and said, "For all of your knowledge, I will never be able to figure out why you're so undeniably inveigled by this Beast Boy."

"You use too many big words!"

Ignoring her fellow Titan's grumbles, the blue sorceress responded, "Needless to say, neither will I," before opening her cloak and absorbing Knowledge back into the depths of her mind. Raising one hand, she pointed to the lamp besides Beast Boy's small bookcase and repeated her familiar three-word mantra. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"

A surge of black energy coated the lamp before it slowly rose, wobbling for a moment before falling back onto the table as Raven's hand fell. "So, looks like your powers are back," Beast Boy said, his voice still slightly irked from being unable to understand the conversation between her and Knowledge.

"For the most part," Raven agreed, drifting towards the exit. "The balance has shifted to my favor."

"How?" he asked as they started walking down the main corridor. "I thought there were eight parts of you."

"If that was true, I wouldn't be here in my 'original' form, since that in itself has splintered."

Coming to a sudden halt, Beast Boy said in a low voice, "So you're telling me you're not really Raven?"

Sighing, the girl turned to face him head on, her voice's usual monotone and somewhat off—but how, he couldn't tell. "The Raven you see and interact with on a daily basis is essentially me. I am Calm, an emotion as well, but unlike the others I am more than just an emotion—I am the one Raven uses the most and thus am the best representation of her. However, in truth I am not, for though Raven's main emotion is me, she has the others as well. But being for the large part Raven herself, I can reabsorb the emotions to become Raven fully."_  
_

"So you're an emoticlone, but you're also Raven, which should mean Raven is an emoticlone, but she's actually made up of emoticlones, including yourself as an emoticlone, which means…gah, I can't process this!" The green Titan promptly collapsed, clutching his throbbing head as his brain short-circuited from total and complete confusion.

"That's why I didn't try to explain it," Raven said, offering Beast Boy a hand. "Since I'm now five-ninths of Raven, I think it's safe to address me as such, just like the other emotions do."

He accepted her assistance, climbing back to his feet. "So that's why Sloth called you 'Ms. Calm Calamity.'"

"Partially," she replied, continuing down the hallway. "Of course, since I exist on the surface with my full personality and not in our mindscape, Sloth calls the complete Raven by the same nickname."

"What about when Rae's—I mean yours—I mean...the blue cloak turned white all those times?" Beast Boy asked, moving his hands about as he spoke.

Raven turned the corner that led to Starfire and Robin's rooms. "That state represents balance and unity of all emotions, of reaching inner peace with myself and being able to express my feelings without losing control of my powers. Of course, the white form can only exist in one of two ways."

"Which are...?"

"No time to explain," the girl replied, holding up a slim gray finger to silence her companion. "I'm pretty sure that Happy and Rude are in Starfire's room. I wonder why the emotions keep seeming to end up in with their opposing emotion."

Beast Boy shrugged before he leaned forward to press the panel at the same time that Raven did, causing his gloved hand to overlap hers as they both paused. Slowly, he pressed so that Raven's palm touched the panel, feeling the ridge of the red-and-black gemstone on the back of her hand dig into his. She shot a glance behind her at him, the slight annoyance fading as she saw the fanged grin and heard him finally reply, "Maybe opposites attract."

Raven didn't say a word as his fingers drifted down the back of her partially-covered hand to fiddle with her dark blue cuff. Those large emerald eyes held her captive, deep and probing and beautiful. She felt her heart begin to race, just like the first time he'd ever held her gaze, and just as all the other times after that. But she buried her newly reclaimed purple emotion, grateful when the gray T-shaded door opened so that she could turn around and say with all her usual sarcasm, "Somehow that's hard for me to imagine."

She felt the shift in his emotions, and was relieved that, for the moment, Timid was not in her mind to make her feel regretful. Raven knew how dangerous her emotions were, whether inside her corporeal form or not, and she couldn't let any consume her, be it Rage or Brave or even Happy: the Puppet King had reminded her of that fact when Starfire's overjoyed spirit had reigned in her own body. [4] She knew firsthand that she couldn't let any emotions get out of control—and that it didn't matter who or how many were hurt in the process.

Trying to regain herself, her Calm, Raven led Beast Boy into the garishly colored room where Happy was currently jumping up and down on the bed. Her pink cloak matched the setting as she squealed, "Hey, Beast Boy, nice to see you again. You've got to join me, it's sooo much fun!"

"Er, no thanks, Happy," he answered with a small but genuine smile. "I'd rather get nauseous the old-fashioned way: riding a roller coaster."

Her giggles made Beast Boy's smile widen. "Good one, B.B.! How about you, Rae?"

"I'd rather not embrace happiness right now except to _absorb_ her," Raven replied, opening her cloak in an obvious hint. Sighing in disappoint, the Pink Raven climbed off the bed, pulling back up her hood—but not before sneaking a wink at the green teen—before skipping into the swirling black gate that led back to Nevermore. "Alright, let's tackle Rude."

"Uh, I'm right here." Both Titans jumped and turned to see the Orange Raven standing behind them with her hand cocked on her hip, crossing her arms as she eyed them up and down with distaste. "And you two think I'm the rude one."

Beast Boy scratched his head in confusion. "But you are, aren't you?"

"And the prize goes to Beast Boy for his astounding observational skills," Rude replied, her voice heavy with sarcasm. "Who could've ever guessed?"

Trying to hold back a smile, Raven said, "Stop teasing him and just get back inside." As her emoticlone complied, the other Titan turned to gape at her. She shrugged, closing her cloak. "It's more enjoyable for me to insult you than to watch it."

"Totally feeling the love, Rae!" She merely ignored him and floated out the door, making Beast Boy grumble about goths and their attitudes as he followed her down the corridor to the stairwell. As they reached the first landing, he finally became aware of his surroundings and asked, "Where are we going, anyways?"

In the fluorescent lighting Raven's face took on an even more haunting appearance. "Brave will obviously be in the gym training, while Timid—"

"Is right here," finished a soft voice, and around the curve of the landing below them appeared a gray-hooded face that chewed her lip nervously. "I didn't think anyone would find me here except...me."

"And me," Beast Boy tacked on.

Raven snorted. "You didn't even know where we were going." The green Titan frowned, but she didn't see or care as she faced her fearful emotion and said in a gentler tone, "It's time to come back to Nevermore, Timid."

The Gray Raven let out a sigh of relief and drifted up to meet them. "Thank Azar, it's awful out here. So many other scary emotions, and people, and feelings, and rooms..."

Timid was still muttering her list as Raven reabsorbed her. Snickering, Beast Boy commented, "Seems like your scared of a lot of things, Raven. Who would've guessed?"

"Not you," came the dry reply, making him scrunch his nose in return. "Now, there's only one emotion left, so please let's just finish this so that I'll finally be able to have some peace and quiet."

"You know you enjoy having me around."

"I know you're annoying me right now."

"Aw, come on, Rae," Beast Boy whined as they reached the gym floor, where down the hallway the sounds of thumping and grunting could be heard. "I thought we were friends."

"I thought I said _you're annoying me_." He quickly stopped talking as he recognized the growing anger in Raven's voice. He didn't know the cause; however, the sorceress did, and the stress of a fractured mind (added to the reason for that fracture wheedling her every ten seconds) was making her start to crack. Quietly chanting her mantra to calm herself, Raven strode into the brightly lit gym to see another emoticlone with green cuffs and boots viciously attacking the punching bag as if she were determined to knock it off the chain.

Noticing the two figures standing in the entryway, Brave stilled the bag with one hand as she flashed them a wide, reckless grin. "Hey, guys, why aren't you at the battle?"

"Now that I think about it, why didn't _you_ go rushing into the field when you heard the alarm?" asked Raven as she walked into the room with Beast Boy at her side._  
_

"Knowledge held me back," the Green Raven grumbled in her rough cadence, walking over to the rec center to grab a bottle of water from the small fridge kept there. She took a few gulps before continuing. "By the time I managed to get around her, the other three Titans had already split, and since I had no idea where they were heading I decided to come here."

"Woah, dude," the boy exclaimed as he came across the soaked cloak of Brave. "You really worked up a sweat."

"Only way to train, am I right?" she replied, holding up a hand for a high-five as the two Titans approached. Beast Boy indulged her, and Brave sent her cloak flying back to her with a careless flick of the wrist. "Anyways, guess it's time for me to head on back home. Maybe next time Raven lets us out to play, we can do a little one-on-one sparring."

He was saved from having to formulate a reply as the blue cloak was swept open and the Green Raven disappeared inside with a little wave and a big grin. As soon as Brave had be reabsorbed, Raven told Beast Boy, "I need to meditate now," before shifting into her soul-self, the black silhouette-ish form a raven, and flying upwards to her room. The changeling was left staring at the ceiling where she'd disappeared, and thinking off all the different parts of Raven, and how even though she needed all her emotions in order to be whole, it seemed she didn't need them in order to live.

* * *

Raven took the now unsplintered pane of glass beside her pillow and set it back into the mirror. Folding her legs, she cleared her mind as the mirror levitated into position in front of her. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos."

With those three words, a black hand surrounded by red energy burst forth from the glass, enveloping her in a tight grip before pulling her soul-self into the mirror and into her mind. Her body stayed behind, levitating above the bed as her soul spun round the red and black vortex until she gently landed on the stone ground, now appearing as her ordinary self. Raven swiftly traveled to the rocky plains surrounding the Forbidden Door, coming to the gathering spot where she quickly summoned her emoticlones. One by one they appeared, still wired from their trip to the outside, and she spoke above the din to Love. "Why did you grab me when I was leaving, Love?"

"Because sometimes you have to face your feelings, Raven," the purple-cloaked girl replied as the others quieted down. "You can't keep us buried so deeply; we've all been to Knowledge's library and know how _that_ played out with Timid." [5]

"Tell the other Titans I'm sorry about that again," the gray emoticlone piped up shyly.

"But you are all dangerous," the sorceress argued, ignoring the vicious grin Rage sent her way at those words. "And you've proven the danger in your strength, Love, when you managed to leave with me through the Forbidden Door and disrupt my mental state so that it splintered."

"I beg to differ." The Yellow Raven straightened her glasses before continuing her explanation. "Keeping us repressed in not the same as keeping us under control, and your denial of Love's existence—or, at the least, a large part of her—is what led to the fracturing of your mind. You know that, Raven, just as I know that."

"Why are you trying to deny me, anyway?" Love huffed, crossing her arms as she glared at her blue counterpart. "Are you that scared?"

"Yes," Timid said meekly, and Brave shook her head and muttered to herself underneath her cloak.

Raven gritted her teeth and managed to speak through them. "Feeling too much is dangerous, no matter what the emotion is. Just because Trigon has been banished from this realm doesn't mean his influence is gone. My powers are and will always be bound to you...emoticlones, and that is why I must constantly keep them in check. So I can't go _falling in love with people!_"

Outside of Nevermore, in Raven's room, another pottery mask broke. Inside both mirror and mind, the Purple Raven was still arguing. "But you can't help who you fall in love with, and in this case it's been a long time coming. You always found him attractive, and that's exactly why you always tried to keep him at a distance by snarking on his jokes and actions all the time."

"They really aren't that funny," Rude interrupted with a loud snort.

"My _point_," Love stressed. "Is that you can't deny it, and to deny is more dangerous than to accept. After all, with love comes emotional harmony, which is the goal you want to achieve. A perfectly balanced state that would allow you to feel more 'freely', like with Malchior." [6]

Rage hissed, her eyes burning red, and Knowledge said, "Not the wisest example to use, Love."

"It doesn't matter what examples you use." Raven sighed, closing her eyes for a moment before opening them one more. "I may be in love—and I'm _not_ saying I am—but that doesn't mean I have to act on it."

"Ah, don't give us that sorry excuse!" the Green Raven said as she wrenched back her hood, violet eyes fierce. "You're just afraid of rejection, aren't ya, Timid?"

"Maybe," came the slightly scared reply.

Brave threw her arms into the air. "See?! Why can't you just woman up, be more me, and tell him how you feel?"

"Plus, I'm not so sure—meaning _you're_ not so sure—that he doesn't like you, after that almost kiss between us." A purple hood was pushed back to reveal eyes that were darker in shade and whose plea was obvious. "Why don't you at least try?"

"Too hard," Sloth said, burping in tandem with Rude. Fixing a wedgie, the brown-cloaked girl continued with, "Isn't the guy supposed to make the first move?"

"I'm sure he did when he first met us!" Love yelled, pulling her hair in frustration. "But the boy's bound to give up if we not only show no interest but show _disinterest_ as well!"

Speaking for the first time, Rage grumbled, "Terra."

"That's right! She came in and scooped him up because we weren't trying to land him; plus, you didn't feel as strongly about him as you have ever since the incident with the unnameable dragon."

"I do concede that Love has a point," Knowledge agreed, making the Purple Raven jump up and down in happiness—or, in this case, _with_ Happy. "I think that the smartest thing to do would be to try and open up more to all of our friends like we have been, find more ways to express ourselves without losing control. With Trigon gone, it should be much easier."

"Don't forget to chain me up, too." Rage stepped forward, and all the other emoticlones immediately backed off. "What happens when you actually 'land the guy', Raven? What happens if he gets hurt and you let me loose? What happens then?"

Timid stuttered, "T-that doesn't s-sound very good a-at all."

"It doesn't matter now—all that I care about is returning you back to your domains." And with that, Raven flew out of the forbidden door and back into her body. Setting her mirror away on her occult pyramid with her powers, she finally began to concentrate on some real meditation, shifting her emotions into their proper nooks as she muttered slowly, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath Metrion—"

A knock on the door disrupted her, and she ground her teeth before walking over and inching it open just enough so that she could see who stood outside. It was none other than Beast Boy. "What."_  
_

"Hey, Raven," he began nervously. "So, the other Titans are still out dealing with the H.I.V.E. Five, and I know I get lonely, and even though you probably don't get lonely I was still thinking that maybe you'd like to hang out since there's no one else and you've been meditating for, like, half an hour and—"

"Wait," she interrupted, frowning slightly. "It's been half an hour?"

Beast Boy blushed slightly and scratched his head. "Well, more like five minutes, but it's felt like forever."

"You know I spend hours doing this, Beast Boy."

"Yeah, but you do it around people sometimes, right? So maybe you could just keep me company."

Raven's eyes widened. "You really want some creepy girl lurking around while you do...whatever it is you do?"

"I don't want 'some creepy girl', Rae," he protested gently. "I want _you_."

Her heart thumped, but she kept her face impassive as she replied, "Not much of a difference, but I guess I'll join you since you probably wouldn't stop pestering me if I don't."

"We don't have to hang out if you don't want to."

She finally opened the door completely as she unthinkingly stretched out one hand to touch his forehead. "Are you feeling alright? Because you're talking crazy."

Beast Boy's skin felt warm, but not unusually so. He coughed nervously, and she quickly removed her hand. Rubbing the back of his neck with a sheepish grin, he told her, "I never wanted you to feel like you didn't have a choice in hanging out with me and the rest of us. I...just always wanted you to actually choose me. _Us_! I meant us."

"Oh," was all she could say in surprise. "That was surprisingly understanding of you, Beast Boy."

That fang she knew too well poked out as his face lit up. "Yeah, well, I think I get why you hide your emotions better now, how you have to keep them under control because of your powers. But you told be there were two ways that you could become the White Raven, right?"

Raven's lips thinned slightly as Timid whispered, _Uh oh. _"It's only when I can briefly harness all my emotions for a more ultimate power."

"What about with Malchior?"

Her eyes narrowed. "He was teaching me stronger spells."

Beast Boy's eyes narrowed a tiny bit as well. "That's only one way, Raven. You said there were two."

"I must have misspoken."

"I have heightened animal senses, and you're not doing a good job of lying. What are you so afraid of?"

"I'm not afraid!" she lied fiercely, shirking back as she tried not to panic. "I just need to meditate now."

"But Raven—!"

"_Alone_."

The door between them closed. Beast Boy hung his head in disappointment, not realizing that on the other side, Raven stood with her hand pressed against the door while a whirlwind of papers spun around her as in Nevermore Love howled. She waited until she could no longer feel the changeling's emotional turmoil before finally turning away to begin meditating once more.

Down the hall within his room, the green teen was trying to figure out why he felt so frustrated by how the sorceress had avoided answering his questions. Was Malchior still that much of a sore subject for her? And why did that thought make him so angry? Glancing at his closet, he changed into a fly, zipping underneath the door frame to make it inside without having its contents spill out. Morphing back to his human shape, he stared at the wall Knowledge had been examining—or more specifically, at one of the photos taped to it.

He touched the young woman's image, tracing the outline of her blue eyes. "I wish you were here right now," Beast Boy said aloud even though he knew he was only talking to ghosts. "I could really use some help figuring stuff out."

There was no reply, not from her. But maybe someone who knew him just as well could help.

Reaching behind another picture, he removed the glove from his right hand and pressed it against the panel embedded into the plaster, lowering his arm at the sound of a click and allowing it to swing open. A circular purple-gray device lay inside the tiny compartment, which he picked up after putting his glove back on.

Opening the closet door, Beast Boy groaned as the pile he had gone through such lengths to keep inside spilled out. Ignoring the mess for now, he sat on the lower bunk and flipped open the Doom Comm to call that someone.

It rang for several moments before a gentle feminine voice answered, "Garfield?"

"Hey, Mom."

Thousands of miles away in Midway City, Rita Farr Dayton—aka the Doom Patroller Elasti-Girl—smiled at how he'd addressed her. "Been a while since you last called. What's bugging you, kiddo?"

"Well," Beast Boy sighed and looked down at her image on the screen with a shy smile, "it's about this girl…"

* * *

**Alright, it's the end of episode one! Tell me what you guys think, and don't be afraid to be honest; just be helpful if you're being negative. Here's the short summary for the next episode:**

Episode Two: "A Titan's Daughter" - _It's up to the Teen Titans to help a heroine named Nightstar get back to the future _before_ she messes up the past._

**Those of you who've heard of Nightstar from the original DC comics can probably infer what's going to happen. I bid you adieu until then! :)  
**

* * *

[1] Reference to the episode "Haunted"

[2] Reference to the episode "Nevermore"

[3] It was only undisputed because no one else was around at the time.

[4] Reference to the episode "Switched"

[5] Reference to the episode "Fear Itself"

[6] Reference to the episode "Spellbound"


	2. Episode 2

**The answer to the last A/N's question was the episode "Revolution"; now, we continue our story into the month of July, a week after the previous events. Sorry for the obscenely long wait—while I had the bulk of this already written, I could not figure out how to finish it. But now, without further ado, here is episode two!**

* * *

**Episode Two: "A Titan's Daughter"**

_It's up to the Teen Titans to help a heroine named Nightstar get back to the future _before_ she messes up the past._

* * *

The girl ran into the Evidence Room and shut the door, keying in the override passcode that would keep it locked for five minutes regardless of outside interference. She knew her family would find her soon, but that would give her some time to come up with a plan.

"A plan for what?" she thought aloud with a snort, pushing back the long strands of curly hair away from her face. "Nothing I do will ever convince them that I'm ready to be a superhero, not even the fact that I made my hero name a combination of theirs: Nightstar. Better than the one Andy chose—how lame is Firewing? ...well, it's actually a direct English translation of his real name, but that's beside the point! _He_ gets to start _his_ training!"

Weaving around the various podiums of villain trophies, Nightstar continued to rant to herself. "I mean, I'm two years older than him! And I'm much better at throwing bolts; Uncle Vic said my accuracy is nearly as good as my dad's. But neither he nor Mom cares. All _they're_ worried about is my apparent 'impulsivity', whatever that is.

"I mean, what are they worried about?" she grumbled as she picked up the golden Clock of Eternity. "I am perfectly capable of handling things in a calm, rational manner. Like this clock."

Right then a knock sounded on the door, and Nightstar jumped in surprise. The movement caused the clock to go flying out of her hands, and she let out an "Eep!" before diving to catch it.

"Mar'i, what are you doing in there? Come out this instant, young lady!" a woman's voice demanded.

Catching the clock with a sigh of relief, the girl whipped her head to glare at the door and yell back, "The name's Nightstar!"

As she turned, her hair knocked into the clock. She stared on in horror as it was swept from her hands and slid across the room before coming to a stop at the base of another podium. Nightstar braced herself for the following explosion, but nothing happened. Letting out another relieved sigh, she crossed the room to pick up the Clock of Eternity as another voice—this one male—yelled from outside the door, "Mar'i Selina Gr—"

"The name is Nightstar!" she yelled again, picking up the clock. "And I'm not leaving this room until you two—" Her sentence was cut short as a golden light filled the air and a loud chime echoed. It's brightness shrouded everything else from sight, and once it dissipated, there was no one (and no clock) to be seen.

The pounding on the door grew heavier as both voices called out frantically for their daughter. But she was no longer in the room.

...or was she?

* * *

It was early in the afternoon at Titans Tower, and the five friends were settling down to enjoy one of Cyborg's brunches. Or at least, four of them were.

"Is there anything in this fridge besides meat?" Beast Boy complained, slamming the door shut and stomping over to try the cabinets next.

"Why would you want to eat anything besides meat?" Cyborg replied, shoveling his food into his mouth so fast his arms became a blur of white and blue. Once finished with his plate, he turned to Raven, who sat beside him. "Gonna eat that?"

"One strip of bacon is enough for me," the girl replied monotonously, and so Cy quickly cleared her plate. Raven just sipped her tea, occasionally sneaking peeks at Beast Boy over the rim of her mug.

Starfire was pouring mustard all over her plate, grinning widely as she finished and sampled a large bite. "You were most right, friends—mustard is much better as a condiment rather than as a drink!"

"Uh, yeah." Robin smiled, choosing not to comment on which kinds of food mustard usually went with. He was just happy that Star was happy.

Beast Boy's stomach growled once more, and he moaned. "Do you guys really want me to starve through training?"

"It's better than hearing you talk," the blue-cloaked girl responded dryly, making the changeling frown as Robin and Cyborg laughed.

"Nice one, Rae," said Cy as Beast Boy grumbled about the lack of sympathy. "Now, if none of y'all want seconds, I'll finish off the pan."

He'd just grabbed the handle when a siren blared, sending all the Titans on full alert. Cyborg reluctantly set the bacon down and went over to the control unit, checking the panel. "Intruder in the Evidence Room," he told the others as they came to join him, the siren turning off as soon as it was acknowledged.

"Let's go check it out, Titans," Robin ordered, running out the door as the others followed close behind. "How'd they get in without us knowing, Cyborg?"

"I don't know, man," the other replied as they jogged, flew, and levitated down the levels. "According to the scanners, they just appeared."

"Wait, you mean they just 'poofed' themselves inside the Tower?" Beast Boy asked incredulously. "Nobody can just 'poof' themselves into _our_ tower...right?"

"Nobody that we know of can," Cy answered, his face grim. "And that's what worries me."

"So we have an unknown enemy." Raven's voice was as sarcastic as ever. "Wow, that totally caught me by surprise."

Starfire looked at the other girl in confusion. "I do not understand. Is this not what our days usually consist of? Unknown enemies that we must vanquish?"

The sorceress just sighed as Robin replied, "You're right, Starfire, except this time they made it past all our security measures. Let's not rush into things with this one."

They reached the door to the Evidence Room, and Cyborg opened it silently as they all slipped inside. Only the emergency lights were still on, and even their bulbs seemed to be dying. It was dark, and the Titans split up on Robin's signal to search the room. The quietness was eerie; Beast Boy almost screamed when he turned around and came face-to-face with the cracked mask of Slade. Suddenly, a scuffling sound was heard, soon followed by the crash as several podiums fell to the ground in quick succession.

The Titans immediately regrouped, surrounding the rubble as a shadowy figure rose from the center, groaning. Whipping out his bo-staff, the Boy Wonder pointed it in the figure's direction as he shouted, "We don't know how you got in, but we know how you're getting out. **(A/N: This is a recycled quote using different pronouns from the episode "Betrayal", so who said it originally? Hint: It's not the Titan who's using it now.)** Titans, g—"

"I'msorryIdidn'tmeantoandIdon'tknowwhathappenedsopleasedon'tgroundme!" a girl's voice said rapidly, cutting off Robin's command. The figure raised both its arms in a gesture of surrender as purple starbolts flickered around their hands.

Starfire rose higher, her own hands glowing green. "Sister?"

"Why would Aunt Koma be here?" the figure replied, confused. "Wait, wait—did you bring _everyone_? Oh, Mom, please don't tell me you're gonna make me listen to the whole team lecture!"

"Mom?" all five Titans replied in shock as the lights finally came back on, revealing the figure to be a girl with long black hair whose outfit was identical to Starfire's in all aspects except for metal manica she wore along with the matching plating that covered her legs and midriff. [1] The girl stared at the group with wide eyes: like the redhead's they were a brilliant green, but her sclerae were white.

"Mom?" she repeated, staring at Starfire in confusion. "What happened to you? You're so much...younger."

"What are you talking about, dude?" the green Titan spoke up, shaking his head quickly as if to empty out the confusion. "And just who _are_ you?"

The girl gasped as she saw him. "And you, too? And—" She spun around in place, the starbolts flickering out as she gaped at the Titans. "And—and all of you! What in the name of X'Hal happened?"

"You mention the goddess X'Hal and can produce the bolts of energy like my people." Starfire paused, examining the girl's face. "Are you a Tamaranean as well?"

"Ok, this was a funny joke." The girl started laughing nervously. "Everyone is dressed up. I mean," she turned, pointing to Robin, "You're even wearing your old suit; all of you are! Ha ha ha, that almost fooled me!"

"Uh, are you okay?" Cyborg asked. His expression was one of wary amazement, but it soon changed to shocked suspicion. "Wait a minute, I think we're all forgetting the big picture here: how'd _you_ get into _my_ tower?"

"Like you don't know that I live here, Uncle Vic."

"Uncle?" Both of the young man's eyes widened. "Did she just call me uncle?"

"Dude, I didn't know your name was Vic," Beast Boy grinned. "I didn't even know you had siblings!"

Cyborg protested, "But I don't! I have no clue who this girl is!"

Robin retracted his bo-staff, running one hand through his spiky hair. "Uh, you said you _lived_ here? In Titans Tower?"

"Well, yeah." The girl frowned, her green eyes narrowing. "Why are you pretending like you don't know?"

"Because we don't know," Raven spoke up, drifting back to the ground and lowering her hood. "How can you live in the Tower if you're not a Titan and if we've never met you before?"

"I am a Titan!" she replied hotly. "Nightstar!"

"Nightstar, huh?" A red cybernetic eye gave her a full body scan. "Not in any of our databases."

"Well, I'm not a Titan _yet_..." Nightstar admitted, looking down sheepishly. "But I will be! If my parents will ever let me train, that is."

She looked at Starfire pointedly, and the redhead looked back in confusion. "I do not understand. Why are you looking in my direction? And why did you earlier refer to me as 'Mom'?"

"Because you _are_ my mom! Why are—" The brunette stopped mid-sentence, looking down at her feet. "Oh no, no, no, no, no! Please don't let this have happened!"

The green Titan waved his hands about as he demanded, "Is anyone as confused as I am right now? What's going on here?!"

Ignoring him, Nightstar bent down and picked up the Clock of Eternity. "Oh, X'Hal," she breathed out, staring at its face. "You all really don't know me."

"That's what we've been saying," Raven said, rolling her eyes. "Now could you tell us why?"

"Because I haven't been born yet." Nightstar raised her eyes to meet Robin's. "I'm from the future."

All the Titans were silent in shock, except for Beast Boy, who was finally beginning to work things out. "So that means that when you said that thing about being Starfire's daughter, you actually _are_ her daughter—from the future?"

"My...daughter?" The Tamaranean walked forwards, coming to a stop just in front of Nightstar. Hesitantly, she reached out and touched the girl's face, their golden skin tones a perfect match. Smiling hugely, Starfire grabbed the other in a bone-crushing hug. "Oh, what a glorious day, to find out that I will have a daughter that is so beautiful and looks so much like me!"

The rest winced in sympathy for Nightstar, but she didn't seem to be bothered by her future mother's strength at all. She just laughed along with Starfire, her grin just as wide when the other finally set her back on her feet, and said, "This is incredible! You look just like the old pictures!" They both giggled in glee, hugging each other tightly.

"Starfire has a daughter." Robin said in a robotic tone, his face slack. "Starfire has a _daughter_."

"Now I see why she called me 'uncle'; yo Nightstar, tell me what I'm like in the future!"

"Do I get any taller? Please, please, _please_ tell me I at least reach 5'6"!"

"_Starfir__e has a daughter_."

Nightstar smiled and stepped back from Starfire, though they kept their arms linked. "Well—"

"Actually, it's probably best you don't say anything," Raven interjected, walking towards them. "The future is a delicate thing, and tampering with the past could effect it in catastrophic ways."

"But she's already here!" Beast Boy whined. "Isn't that messing up the future enough?"

"Yeah," Cyborg joined in. "And what if she's _supposed_ to tell us what the future is like?"

A vein throbbed above one violet eyebrow. "If you two are willing to risk altering the future with potentially catastrophic effects—such as Nightstar never having been _born—_then by all means, go ahead and ask."

The boys immediately closed their mouths, eyes downcast. Robin hung back, still repeating, "Starfire has a daughter," over and over again to himself.

Clearing his throat, Cyborg patted Nightstar on the shoulder and said, "Well, it's nice to meet you regardless, little lady. Now how'd you get here?"

She raised her hand and showed him the clock. "I accidentally dropped this back in the future Evidence Room, and when I picked it back up a golden light flashed. Once it dimmed, I was here."

"Warp's clock, huh?" He took the Clock of Eternity from her hands, examining it. "Must've activated a time rift that sent you back to the past."

"Will you be able to send me back home?" Nightstar asked.

"Sure thing, with a few modifications. Might take a while, though."

The girl sighed in disappointment, and Starfire squeezed her arm. "Do not despair, Daughter Nightstar. While you wait for Cyborg to repair Warp's clock, you can stay here with us! We shall have a most wondrous time."

"Great." Nightstar's expression grew eager and sly. "And maybe you'll even let me have a run through your training course?"

* * *

"Starfire has a daughter. _Starfire_ has a _daughter_."

"Man, you've gotta snap out of it, Robin," Cyborg said, not looking up from his worktable. The two were in the his room as he repaired the Clock of Eternity. The masked Titan was pacing behind him, still unable to accept the fact of Nightstar's parentage.

"She has a daughter, Cyborg! A daughter! And since Tamaraneans don't reproduce asexually, that means Nightstar has a _father_, too!"

"Well, why don't you just go and ask her who her dad is?"

"Can't," Robin muttered, his eyebrows drawn together. "You heard what Raven said. She reveals one wrong thing and bam, the future is changed."

"Well, like _B.B._ said, her presence alters the future itself," Cy argued, turning his index finger into an acetylene torch to weld two pieces of the clock back together. "Not sure how much more damage she could actually do. 'Sides, he's already asked her a bunch of stuff, and she's answered a couple questions. Same goes for me."

"Really?" The other Titan paused in his pacing. "What did you ask her?"

The sound of the flame stopped, and Cyborg lifted his head but didn't turn around. "If I'd ever find a girl who'd love me despite the metal. She told me that there's somebody for everybody."

The was a moment of silence before the welding noise resumed. Robin finally responded, "Well, that question was a waste. Of course you will."

"Maybe, maybe not. But thanks for thinking that. I'm happy with what I got; you'd be too if you'd go on and find her."

Walking over, Robin clapped his hand to Cy's shoulder. "You're right. Thanks, Cyborg."

"No problem, Rob."

Exiting the room, the Boy Wonder let loose a heavy sigh before squaring his shoulders and walking down the corridor. He'd just rounded the corner when he crashed into another figure. Items clattered to the floor as they both fell to the ground. "Ouch! Sorry about that, couldn't see where I was going."

Shaking his head, Robin looked up to see Nightstar extending her hand to him. He accepted it, letting her pull him up with no help from his part. "Thanks. What's all this stuff?"

Bending down, she quickly swept the food back into her arms, juggling the load with care. "Mom wants to make me some Tamaranean dishes. Some things never change."

"She still cooks in the future?"

"Yup," Nightstar replied, eyes twinkling with mirth. "And she still makes you guys eat it."

Robin chuckled, reaching out to take half of her load. "There. Now we can both see where we're going."

"Thanks."

They started walking down the hall, and he wondered how to ask the question. Deciding to start off easy, Robin asked, "So, did Starfire name you, or your dad?"

"Oh, Nightstar's not my birth name," she explained, blowing some strands of hair out of her eyes. "It's just the hero name I took on: a combination of my parents'."

The leader of the Titans felt his stomach plunge. The -star part was obvious enough, but where did the Night- come from? Certainly not Robin. Feeling downtrodden, he decided his question had been answered. "That's cool."

"If only they thought so," Nightstar said, biting her lip. Robin looked at her, curious despite his disappointment, and she glanced his way before continuing. "They think I'm not disciplined enough to be a superhero like them. Gramps lets me train in secret with him and the rest of the Bat Crew when we go to visit, and Uncle Vic helps me practice building up my strength and aim. But despite how dedicated I am to becoming a hero like them, and despite how good I am at it, they still won't let me try. Mom wavers sometimes, but Dad always stops her, saying I'm too young or not ready. But I'm fourteen, which is the same age _you_ were when you guys formed the Teen Titans, and I've lived my whole life growing up around superheroes. And they're letting my little brother tag along, which is totally unfair since he's only _twelve_!"

"Wow, that's really rough," was all he could say as they finally arrived at the Main Ops Room. His brain was still processing all the information she'd given him as they walked down the steps to the kitchenette. Had she mentioned the Bat… "Wait, you have a brother?"

"I am to have a son as well?" squealed Starfire, taking the food from Nightstar's hands and spreading it along the counter. "That is most wonderful news! Please, will you not tell me about him?"

"Sure thing," her future daughter assured, taking a seat on one of the stools. Robin dumped his load next to the rest of the food as Starfire began digging through pots and pans. "Well, his name is And'rlin"

"Tamaranean for 'Firewing'?" asked the redhead as her boyfriend took a seat across from where she worked.

"Yeah, you named him," Nightstar confirmed. "That's what he uses as his hero name. Everyone besides you calls him Andy. His hair's the same color as yours, but he's got Dad's eyes."

"Oh, they are surely a most wondrous shade." Starfire stopped dumping ingredients into a large pot to sigh wistfully. "Do tell me what they are like!"

The brunette glanced towards Robin, who fidgeted on the stool. "They're the same shade as the sky." He froze in shock, the domino mask stretching as his eyebrows rose. Nightstar had just described his own eye color, even though she'd been describing her brother's. But she'd said that her brother had inherited his eyes from his dad; could that mean he—

"Eep!" The clang of the pot's lid accompanied by his girlfriend's small shriek disrupted his train of thought. "The juzlath juice should be ready as soon as the lid stops rattling."

Nightstar clapped her hands together. "Ah, that's my favorite! How'd you know?"

Giggling, Starfire replied, "It was only a fortunate assumption. So, you and And'rlin are half-Tamaranean. Can you both experience the joy of flight?"

"Yup," the girl replied, flicking her hair over one shoulder. Robin noticed the jet black shade and thought, _Same color as mine, but it could've come from the same person her aunt gets it from._ "We also have your strength to a lesser extent and can shoot bolts. But we can't survive in space without a rebreather, and we lack the ability to assimilate languages through lip contact; however, learning new tongues comes easier to us than to humans."

"Have you been to Tamaran? I know I would take you as soon as I could to meet my knorfka."

"Galfore is the one who began my instruction in the use of weaponry," Nightstar said as Starfire poured her a glass of the juice. "We'd spend our winters there and summers in Gotham. The Warlords of Okaara trained both my brother and I for a year when we turned ten. Dad wasn't happy to have us off planet for so long, especially since we must train alone. But after Andy's training, we all went to Tamaran for his crowning ceremony."

"But I gave the title of Grand Ruler to Galfore. How could—"

"Huthru julzath ripnak glastel reznac!" interrupted the other in Tamaranean, gulping down the remnants of her juice. "Turawr!"

"No one has ever asked me for seconds!" Overjoyed, Starfire completely forgot what she had been saying before, filling up the glass once more. Robin looked on as the two started chattering in the loud guttural language of Tamaran. His thoughts were again driven back to Nightstar's father, but before he could ask, the alarm sounded. This time, it wasn't the signal for an intruder. The window-monitor came to life as Sector 5 flashed.

At the same moment, Robin's T-Communicator beeped. He pulled it out and flipped it open to see Cyborg's face on the screen. "Heard the alarm, but I'm in the middle of fixing Warp's clock. I could drop everything and get over there, but then I'd have to start all over."

"It's alright, Cyborg. You stay; we'll be sure to call if we need you." Sticking the communicator back into his utility belt, he stood up from the stool as Raven and Beast Boy entered the room. "Trouble downtown. Let's move."

Starfire turned off the stove, remembering what had happened the last time she'd left it on (bits of zorkaberry pie could still be found in crevices all over the Ops Room), before following her boyfriend to the door. However, Nightstar hung back. Noticing her absence, Robin turned around to ask, "Aren't you coming?"

The girl's sad look instantly changed to one of joy, and she jumped up from her seat. "Oh, definitely."

* * *

When the Titans arrived on the scene, the museum seemed to be untouched. The alarm had been activated by a tripwire, one designed by Cyborg to monitor all of the key target buildings in Jump City so that they could deal with the dangerous crooks without the police getting hurt or getting in the way. All five silently made their way into the building through the roof, and their leader quickly scoped out the surroundings, looking for anything out of place.

Hearing the quiet fizzle of a laser, Robin directed the team forwards with a wave of his hand. Up ahead the hallway they'd been traversing branched out into a large room that held the fossils of numerous prehistoric creatures. Hanging from the rafters above was the skeleton of an _L. melvillei_. Beast Boy stopped walking, fantasizing about transforming into the gigantic whale before Raven yanked him forwards. She covered his mouth when one hand before his yelp could escape, glaring daggers at him until he gulped. At his semi-frantic nod of understanding, she let him go and continued to ghost behind Robin.

A male voice could be heard near the center of the room, and without waiting for the signal, the Titans fanned out into positions; using the Boy Wonder as a reference for the six o'clock position, Nightstar took up Cy's place near one, with Starfire on her right flank and Beast Boy on the other. Finished cutting a hole in the glass, the crook dressed in golden armor reached into the case. "Ah, what mundane systems this century has. It's almost too simple."

"Really, Warp?" Robin called out as the team stepped out from the shadows. "Because I have the feeling that we're going to have to do this the hard way.

The time-traveling French supervillain just smiled. "So sorry to leave when you all have only just arrived, but I really must be on my way now."

"You're not going anywhere with that fossil you just stole," the masked teen retorted, his bo-staff in hand.

"Dude, what would you want with a bone, anyway?" Beast Boy asked curiously.

Warp gave him a cruel smile. "I'd love to explain, but unfortunately, there's not enough time." Raising one gloved hand, he shot a freeze blast at all the teens, who dodged as Robin shouted their battle cry.

"Titans, go!"

Rising up higher with eyes glowing green, Starfire shot a barrage of starbolts at the villain, who just crossed his arms in front of his face while his armor deflected her attack, sending the energy spiraling around the room. Beast Boy yelped as he ducked under one starbolt, which went on to singe the leg bone of a _T. rex_ skeleton.

"Careful! We don't want to damage the exhibits." Taking heed of Robin's warning, Raven proceeded to shroud the room in a cloak of dark energy, protecting the fossils and leaving the rest of the team free to hit Warp with all they had.

Leaping forwards, Robin lashed out at Warp with one steel-platformed boot. The man blocked the kick with his left gauntlet, thrusting it aside to leave room for him to deliver a punch with his right arm. The Boy Wonder rolled with the blow and immediately sprung back up to swing his bo-staff at Warp, who managed to dodge before blasting the Titan backwards with his forearm-mounted shocker unit.

Beast Boy charged forwards as a triceratops, and ended up acting as a boost when Warp jumped atop the green dinosaur before leaping towards Nighstar, managing to snag her boot and bring the girl back down with him. She shot a starbolt at his face, causing him to release her inches before hitting the ground. Landing gently, her eyes glowed green as purple energy flared around her clenched fists. The villain quickly climbed to his feet, rubbing his jaw with his free hand and a scowl that slowly turned into a grin. "Hmm, it seems that you are several years ahead of your time."

"Just put down the bag, Warp," Nightstar demanded. Robin was slightly impressed at how she refused to be distracted.

Warp sneered, touching a hand to activate the circular blue device on the middle of his chest plate. "So it was _your_ temporal disturbance that allowed me to enter this time stream. I have to say, for being a hero, you're not very good at it."

With a loud war cry, Nightstar jetted forwards as a time portal manifested, managing to screech to a halt just before flying through. Thinking quickly, she shot upwards, neatly flipping over the portal to plant her feet onto Warp's chest. The blue vortex regulator cracked underneath the pressure of her boots, causing the portal to close and allowing her to float backwards as electricity crackled around the supervillain.

"Ah!" he yelled in pain, grabbing the regulator and ripping it off his armor to break the electric current. "Do you know what you could have done?!"

"I know what she did do, and that was stop you," Robin cut in, stepping forward to apprehend him.

Unfortunately, Warp was not down for the count. Quicker than anyone could react, he waved out his hand and froze Nightstar where she stood so quickly that she couldn't even raise her arms in defense. Starfire screamed in anger and dismay, letting loose a blast from her eyes that struck the spot where the man stood. Once the dust cleared, he was lying in the rubble knocked out cold. Robin quickly moved forward to cuff Warp and call the police while the rest of the Titans huddled around their frozen companion.

"Ah, man! She's frozen solid! A Tamaranean popsicle!"

"That would be half-Tamaranean, actually," Raven corrected Beast Boy dryly, her eyes and the room returning to normal.

"I believe that you are doing the missing of the point!" Starfire cut in, her voice high with worry. Unable to melt the ice with her glowing hands, the starbolts flickered out in defeat. "How are we to thaw my future daughter?"

"Don't worry, Star," her boyfriend said, stepping away from the villain to wrap an arm around her waist. "She'll be fine. We _will_ unfreeze her."

A beep came from his communicator, which turned out to be Cyborg. "Yo, man, I got the vortex regulator working. How'd you guys do?"

"Took down the villain, but Nightstar's a bit...unfit for travel." Robin grimaced briefly over his word choice. "Warp froze her in ice, and right now we're trying to think of a way to melt her. Got any ideas?"

"Actually, I do, but I'm not sure you're gonna like it, Rob."

The mask furrowed along with his brow. "Try me."

Cyborg sighed before explaining, "Well, traveling through the wormhole may be enough to warm her up, but she shouldn't go it alone. Someone would have to go with her to make sure she gets where she's going alright. Only problem is—"**  
**

"How the other person would make it back," Robin finished.

"Ooh, ooh, I think I got it!"

"Beast Boy, if it involves giant robot chickens or entering a cheat code, then no."

The green Titan glared at his leader. "Well, for your information, my ingenious plan involves neither."

"Been brushing up on your vocabulary," Raven remarked quietly.

He gave her a fanged grin in reply. "I have, actually." The sorceress was shocked by his reply, and Robin could almost swear he saw a blush in the depths of her hood.

Before he could give it much thought, Starfire cut in. "Please, Friend Beast Boy, tell us of this plan."

"Well, Cy was able to fix Warp's timey-thingy—"

"Vortex regulator!"

"Whatever," Beast Boy scoffed, waving off Cyborg's correction. "My point is that we just have to fix the time vortex thingy that we have right _here_."_  
_

There was a moment of silence before Robin said, "That's actually a really good plan."

"Surprisingly so," Raven added. When the green Titan stared at her in exaggerated shock, she just shrugged. "That's as much of a compliment as you can get from me. Don't push it."

"While your plan is most full of 'some awe', there is a slight problem with its length of time." Starfire moved away from her boyfriend to touch one hand to her future daughter's frozen form. "My people have adapted to the cold in order to survive the subzero temperatures in outer space; however, our bodies rely upon solar energy, and thus being frozen is not a safe state for us to be in. And I fear that Nightstar, having only one Tamaranean parent, is less suited to the cold than I."

"Basically, we don't have time to get Warp's regulator fixed," Raven concluded grimly.

"Ain't a problem," came Cyborg's voice from the communicator. "The future me can no doubt fix it, and with the upgraded tech he's bound to have, it'll probably take him even less time than me. Now we just gotta figure out who's gonna go with the lil' lady into the future."

"Well, you can't go since you'll be opening the portal," Robin reminded him, making Cy grumble in response.

"I can go!" volunteered Beast Boy, waving his gloved hand wildly for the Boy Wonder to call on. "Pick me, pick me!"

"Oh, yes, choose the hyperactive one whose bound to destroy something immediately upon arrival," the blue-cloaked girl said sarcastically.

"Oh, and I guess that means _you_ should get to go?"

She rolled her eyes at the green teen and his jealousy. "When I last messed with time, I froze it, and that's definitely not what Nightstar needs."

Beast Boy laughed at that, and this time their leader was sure he saw Raven blush but knew he didn't have time to speculate about their relationship and so turned to Starfire, raising one eyebrow inquisitively.

"I have already journeyed through time once," the redhead answered his unspoken question. "And I would rather live the future than visit it."

"Guess that leaves me to travel with Nightstar. Raven, Beast Boy, you two stay here until the police arrive," ordered Robin before looking down to address Cyborg. "Star and I will meet you back at the Tower."

"Sweet." Cy shut down their transmission, and the masked teen slipped his communicator back into his belt before turning to his girlfriend.

"Up for flying both of us back?"

"Certainly," Starfire answered, floating upwards to grip Nightstar beneath her arms. Once Robin had slipped an arm around the frozen girl, she lifted off with ease and glowing eyes. The two remaining Titans watched the trio disappear down the hallway before facing each other. It had been a week since Beast Boy had helped put Raven back together again, and though both pretended as though the incident with Love and the talk afterwards had never occurred, there was a lingering tension between them.

"So…" the changeling began, searching for a safe topic to pursue. "Your birthday's coming up soon."

"Hopefully this one will be better than the last," was all the blue-cloaked girl said in reply. [2]

"Heh heh, yeah," Beast Boy weakly chuckled. "I was wondering what you wanted. Y'know, for a present."

"Nothing."

"Come on, Raven. There has to be _something_ you want."

"Beast Boy, I was raised by monks," Raven explained with a sigh. "They practiced humility, not gift-giving."

He snorted in disbelief. "Which they should be humiliated for!"

To his surprise, a Raven-smile spread across her lips for a fraction of a second before she turned away to levitate in the lotus position. "Azar would definitely not agree."

"Who's Azar?" Beast Boy asked as he took a seat in front of her next to Warp. "You mention him a lot, but more like an exclamation or something."

"_She_ was the spiritual leader of Azarath," the sorceress told him, keeping her eyes closed, "and powerful enough to be a veritable goddess, which is why I use her name in that manner. Azar was also the one who took in my mother…" Raven silently swore and settled herself back onto the ground, opening her eyes. The relaxed state of body and mind she had been in lead her to reveal more about herself than she had intended.

"You don't talk about your mom much," the green Titan before her commented softly.

"Neither do you," she quickly shot back, determined to keep the attention away from her.

His vibrant green eyes dimmed as he looked down at the floor. "That's cause she died."

Shocked, Raven tripped over her words as she tried to apologize. "I—I didn't mean—it wasn't—"

"Hey, it's okay." He laughed it off, but she could see the pain he worked to hide behind his false smile; hell, she could _feel_ it. "It was a long time ago. And the Doom Patrol took me in, so Rita's my mom now."

Still feeling tremendously guilty for her thoughtless comment, she decided that the least she could do was place the same trust in him that he did in her. "When I was born, the monks knew that I had to be secluded since my powers were tied to my emotions. That meant growing up with no friends, no family, no mother. Once Azar died, my mother took over my training, and so I finally got to meet her…which was nice, yet…it always felt like there was something _missing_. I didn't know how to express my emotions for her, and Arella didn't know how to connect with a child like me. So our relationship is lacking."

"Do you love her?"

She frowned at Beast Boy, bewildered by his question. "...of course I do."

"And does she love you?" he continued.

"Yes." Raven hesitated and admitted in a faltering monotone, "I think she does, at least."

Smiling triumphantly, he said, "Then there's nothing lacking at all. At least nothing really important."

Her heart grew warmer at his words. "Thanks."

"So, you guys have met my folks...any chance we'll get to meet yours one day?"

"You've already met my dad," the sorceress reminded him wryly. "And do you really want to meet the wife of an interdimensional demon?"

The green teen shuddered and quickly muttered, "Never mind." He paused for a moment before adding, "Well, actually, his daughter is pretty cool when she's not being totally angsty and locked away in her room."

He could have almost sworn that he needed to be thawed along with Nightstar from her caustic glare.

_There goes the moment,_ Love said with a mournful sigh.

* * *

"Y'all ready?"

Robin gave Cyborg a thumbs up, and so he aimed his sonic cannon at the rooftop court, using the Clock of Eternity to fire a beam that opened into the time vortex. He kept it open with effort as Starfire helped hoist the frozen girl onto her boyfriend's back, giving him a brief kiss on the cheek before the masked Titan took the clock and steadily walked through the portal. She watched as they disappeared, starting when four metallic gray fingers gently landed on her shoulder.

"He's gonna be fine, Starfire. They both are."

Before she could reply, the space which the time vortex had once occupied began to cast a bright white glow that stretched out towards them.

* * *

Various clock hands spun round the black and white faces as Robin travelled through the vortex with Nightstar on his back. He glanced around in amazement as he effortlessly floated to a bright expanse of white that was growing even brighter as he neared, until it became his surroundings and flared so hotly that he had to close his eyes. When he dared to look around once more, the Boy Wonder found himself in the Evidence Room.

The podiums were all lined up neatly, no sign of the debris that Nightstar's arrival had caused. Thinking of the half-Tamaranean, Robin glanced back to see her very much unfrozen as she clung to him piggyback with her super strength. Wincing, he rolled his shoulders to loosen her grip, wondering if he'd made it to the future. Were there perhaps more podiums than before? Deciding to enlist the aid of someone from the actual time, he set down the clock and tried to wake the girl up. "C'mon, Nightstar. Time to wake up."

"Just five more minutes, Dad," she slurred in response, making him stiffen. Dad. She had called him _Dad_...but she was half asleep. Still, could that mean—

A loud and familiar war cry sounded from beyond the door before it burst inwards, startling Nightstar awake as Robin set her down to whip out his bo-staff. A tall figure flew over the podiums towards them, and he felt his jaw drop as an audible gulp came from behind at the sight of the tall redheaded woman clad in a way more revealing purple and silver outfit than he remembered, though it was still far from scandalous. [3] "Mar'i! Why did you not…Robin?"

"_Starfire_?" he squeaked, trying to reconcile the teenage girl he'd left in the past with this _very_ grown-up woman.

Nightstar quickly came between them and hurriedly explained, "Mom, this is Robin from the past. Robin, this is Starfire in the future."

"Uh, hi." Robin cleared his throat and awkwardly held out the vortex regulator. "So, um, Cyborg needs to—"

"Eeeep!" Starfire's shriek cut him off as she flew forwards to grip him in a hug that was even more crushing than before. "Oh, how I have missed you, young Robin!"

"Don't I feel loved." As the Tamaranean released him upon hearing the wry words, he looked up to see a tall long-haired man wearing a black armored bodysuit with a blue bird emblem, steel gauntlets, a matching utility belt, and a wing-stylized domino mask. The man grinned at him and said, "Hey, Robin. I'm Nightwing."

"Nightwing? You mean—"

"The future version of you," Nightstar finished his sentence. "Robin, meet your future; Dad, remember your past."

So that's where she'd gotten the first half of her name from: his own future identity. For the guy who'd been trained by the World's Greatest Detective, Robin hadn't been very observant. At least he could deduce from the small smile of understanding Nightwing gave him that his future self knew exactly how he felt, since years ago he'd actually _been_ him.

"Why have you journeyed here to our time, young Robin of the old?" asked Star.

"Nightstar was sort of…unfit for travel."

The redhead's eyes narrowed at that as she turned to the girl. "You did not give him your real name, Mar'i?"

Her daughter sorta laughed and explained, "Well, we're supposed to wear our 'uniforms' in the Tower, so why not use our hero names as well?"

"Because you have not been training to be a hero."

"She has, actually," Nightwing corrected his wife, but didn't get the chance to explain because a young male's voice called out from the doorway.

"Hey, Mom, your stewed grunthmek is starting to burn."

"Eep!" both females shrieked, zooming off in a fiery trail of red and purple. Huh; he'd never seen Starfire's hair do _that_.

"Woah, watch it!" the new arrival complained as Nightwing lead Robin towards him. The boy was as young as his voice yet taller than the Boy Wonder, dressed in a classic Tamaranean garb composed of purple cloth and silver plating. Since he had called Starfire his mother, Robin thought it was safe to assume that this was her—hers and _his_—son, And'rlin. But besides for his skin, he looked nothing like his sister: where her hair was black as night, his was as red as flames; where her eyes were emerald green, his were sky blue. "Hey Dad, and…Dad?"

"Uh, hi," Robin responded with an awkward smile. "You're Andy, right?"

"Uh, yeah." Andy blinked twice before addressing his future self. "What in the name of X'hal is going on?"

"Your sister went back in time, and Robin had to bring her back. Yes, he is my past self; yes, you have to be careful about what you reveal; and yes, you can show him around while I call Vic," Nightwing answered, impressing Robin with his ability to foresee his son's follow up questions. "You can hang on to the regulator for now, Robin."

The Boy Wonder nodded as the man walked off, sticking the regulator into his belt before he turned to face Andy, who was wearing a grin that's wideness was reminiscent of Starfire's. "This is so cool. C'mon, I'll show you around the Tower. It's changed a bit since your day. We have _four_ bathrooms now."

"Really?" Robin asked as they walked down the corridor, heading for the stairwell.

"Yeah. And more rooms have been added for us kids."

"You mean there are more than you and your sister?"

Andy noticed the slight horror on his face and hurriedly reassured, "Oh no, I'm the youngest of your kids. But you and Mom aren't the only members of Titans West."

They passed by habitat rooms, and the masked Titan grinned as he saw that the number of bathrooms had indeed increased from the one unit they currently had—or rather, that they _had_ had in the past? Time travel was confusing; he'd never quite understood the mechanisms of it.

"And this is my room," the other stated proudly as they passed by a door labeled 'Mark and And'rlin'; Robin's brow rose at the first name, and Andy reluctantly added, "Well, it's my room that I share with Mark."

"Who's Mark?"

"He's Uncle Gar's and..." Andy trailed off, eying Robin in consideration before deciding to leave it at that. "He's Uncle Gar's son—"

"And standing right behind you," a burly voice said from behind them. Robin turned to see a skinny blond kid whose prepubescent image differed greatly from what he'd envisioned upon hearing the deep baritone. He was wearing a black-and-purple uniform that differed from Beast Boy's, though the same green eyes stared at him in shock through a purple mask. The boy's mouth dropped open, revealing slightly sharpened canines much duller than the changeling's fangs. "Robin? Like, the _original_ Robin?"

The redhead waved away the question with impatience. "Yeah yeah, you should probably go."

Mark's face turned stricken. "How come _I_ have to go?"

"I probably shouldn't have even mentioned your existence, given the circumstances of how your dad began dating you mom."

"Huh, why would—oh. _Oh_. I see."

Robin's eyes narrowed imperceptibly behind his mask as he tried to decipher what had remained unsaid. Mark's mom would be (assuming the relationship went well and in the traditional order) Beast Boy's wife, who his future son had taken greats pains not to mention by name, and so also someone he already knew. Flickering through the possibilities, he again noted Mark's blond hair - which had a greenish caste to it - and came up with one Titan who it could possibly be. [4] But her current status was unknown and didn't seem likely to have changed in the future (or...in the present?).

"Well, I'll just hang out in my room," Mark told them, interrupting his speculative thoughts. "Nobody's in the common room besides for Mar'i and your mom."

"Cool. See you later." Turning to Robin with a grin, Andy asked, "How'd you like to try out the gaming system we have _now_?"

"You're on."

Entering the Main Ops Room, Robin was surprised to see it hadn't changed much in the years. The walls and carpeting were all the same, but the computers had been upgraded to a new software he'd never seen before, while the kitchenette was now mainly stainless steel with a fridge that was twice as wide as the old one. In it were Star and Nightstar, who were eating a piece of pink-crusted pie that had a purple filling stuffed with what looked like green worms. The older Tamaranean noticed their arrival and waved. "Hello, Son And'rlin and Past Robin! You must try our stewed grunthmek—it is most delicious!"

"Ah, sweet, you were able to save it!" the redheaded boy crowed, flying forwards to grab a slice for himself. He looked back at the other male. "Don't you wanna piece?"

Distinctly remembering the time Cyborg had a bite and how he'd run to the bathroom to hurl almost immediately afterwards [5], the masked teen paled and said, "I'm good."

Suddenly the alarm rang out, and Starfire sprang to her feet. The door in front of which he stood opened to reveal Nightwing, who told his wife, "Trouble downtown. Let's move."

"But what about the children?"

The man hesitated, his gaze moving from his kids to Robin and settling on the later. "Robin, you're in charge until we come back. I'll have Raven teleport Vic back here as soon as we're done."

"I'll keep them safe," he promised, and Nightwing nodded once before he and Star left. The alarm cut off as Andy settled himself on the couch and gestured Robin over. He walked forwards only to pause as the door reopened behind him to emit Mark and another boy who looked to be Andy's age, though he had dark skin and gray eyes.

The blond now wore a black cloak over his uniform with the hood drawn up, and the newcomer was dressed in a black tank, boots, and fingerless gloves along with a short sleeve jacket, jeans, and bandanna that all matched his eyes. "What's going on?" he asked, doing a double take when he saw Robin. "Woah, is that—"

"Yeah, he's my dad from the past whose been left in charge. Now quiet down, Gail; I'm trying to choose the best game!"

Gail frowned at his best friend, who just started loading Super Monkey Ninjas XX: Banana Bonsai Battle. Before he could comment, Mark clapped his shoulder and said, "Mar'i can explain; let's ask her."

The blond steered the other towards the kitchenette as Robin asked Andy in a low voice, "Who's Gail?"

"He's Uncle Vic's son."

His eyes remained glued to the screen as he made his character jump over the banana boomerangs the enemy was throwing. "Ah. Nice to know he found someone."

In the kitchenette, Nightstar was relaying her tale to the other boys. "—and then I kicked Warp in the chest and cracked his vortex regulator!"

"Awesome!" Gail exclaimed. "I wish I could've seen our folks back in their prime."

Mark was frowning slightly as the story brought a question to mind: "But how come they never said anything about it?"

The older girl rolled her eyes. "You're such a worrywart, Mark. It's probably so they didn't put the future at risk. Y'know how your mom is, after all."

"Was my mom there?" asked the youngest excitedly.

"No," she answered, and Gail's face fell. "But we know she'll join them eventually."

Back on the couch, Robin held back a curse as his character fell from the vines and died. Andy laughed as he continued on while the Boy Wonder waited to respawn for the _fourth_ time when something in his belt vibrated. Pulling out the vortex regulator, he examined it as the device shook in his grasp, dropping it when it suddenly turned so hot he could feel the heat through his gloves. It clattered to the floor, burning a hole through the red carpet as it automatically began repairing itself. Bending down, he muttered, "What the—"

A loud crash cut him off as the glass wall shattered, making Andy yell out in horror as his game was promptly ended. The siren began to sound as a gold plated figure flew inside, a wicked smile in place as he stared down at Robin. "So sorry to interrupt, but I believe you have something that belongs to me."

Snatching up the regulator, Robin stuffed it back into his belt as he simultaneously withdrew his bo-staff. "How were you able to follow me?"

Warp landed on the higher level, shards of glass crunching beneath his boots. "This time I piggybacked off _your_ temporal disturbance. Like father like daughter."

Gritting his teeth, the masked Titan turned to Andy and ordered, "Grab Gail and Mark and get out. Use your communicator to find Nightwing and tell him what's happened."

He used his to shut down the intruder alert just as the mounted guns were emerging to fire upon the intruder, knowing they would be futile, as the boy asked, "But what about Mar'i?"

"I need her to help me hold off Warp. Now go."

"But—"

"_Go_!"

With tightened lips, Andy flew towards the kitchenette. "Mark, take Gail to find our parents. Mar'i, let's help Robin."

The supervillain sneered as the blasted Titan dodged another of his blasts, aiming once more when a blue-colored starbolt hit his chest, knocking him out the window. Robin turned to see the vibrant glow fade from Andy's eyes and demanded, "I thought I told you to leave."

Shrugging, the redhead replied, "No way was I gonna leave my sister behind with no parental guidance."

"Hey!"

Ignoring the girl's indignant shout, Robin decided further argument was pointless and instead asked, "So, your starbolts are blue?"

"We call them firebolts."

"'We' being Andy," Nightstar corrected, smirking at her brother's glare. "Mine are actually called blackbolts by _everyone_." Her cockiness faded as Warp reappeared in the window, his face twisted in anger as a laser blasters opened from each shoulder. "Uh oh."

The three heroes ducked for cover as the supervillain began his bombardment, shredding the couch to pieces. Luckily, they'd taken cover at the edge of the side stairwells, the siblings at one and their future father at another. Robin grabbed some smokescreen bombs and launched them over. Warp raised his shield as they exploded, covering his field of vision. He stepped out of the smoke to see the room empty of occupants and let loose a snarl.

Meanwhile, his quarry was fleeing down the corridors towards the southwest stairwell. "What's the plan?" Nightstar asked as they stopped at the beginning of the stairs.

"Warp's only able to track me and the regulator," Robin explained. "Nightstar, you head for the Evidence Room, grab the Clock of Eternity, and then call An—Firewing."

"What about you guys?" Nightstar asked.

The sound of footsteps approached. "We'll lead him astray," he answered, his face set in grim determination. "Titans, go!"

Nightstar took off in down the stairwell as the two boys held their ground until Warp came into view. They took off down the hall, and Robin threw a freeze disk on the ground behind them. A thud and string of French curses sounded as the two turned the corner to reach the northwest stairwell. Taking out the vortex regulator and giving it to the redhead, Robin headed downstairs as Firewing flew upwards.

Clearing the icy patch of floor, Warp searched for a signal and found two heading in opposite directions. "I don't have the time for these games," he hissed, tuning his suit's focus to be specific to the regulator. One signal vanished as the second grew stronger, and the Frenchman grinned as he began climbing the stairs.

By this time Robin had reached the Evidence Room and stuck his head through the door to call the girl's name. Nightstar appeared, holding the clock extremely carefully. At his inquisitive glance, she merely stated, "Don't want to cause anymore accidents."

"I'll take it from here while you use your communicator to call Firewing. We have to keep moving."

She removed the gem from her gorget and revealed her T-Communicator, taking it out and putting the green stone back in place before she flipped it open and called her brother, following the Boy Wonder's lead all the while.

Firewing heard a beep and pulled out his own communicator in the same fashion as his sister had done, opening it to see her face on the screen. "I'm in position. Where are you guys?"

"Heading for the common room. Robin says to rendezvous with us there."

"Alright, on my—"

The door to the roof exploded, and the blast sent the redhead tumbling backwards as the yellow device rolled out from his grip. "Firewing? Come in, Fire. _Fire_!"

Groaning, Firewing lifted himself halfway up, coming to a sudden halt since there was a shocker unit held to his face. Warp smiled and said, "The vortex regulator, if you would be so kind."

Flashes of electricity danced around the man's forearm, and the boy knew he couldn't move fast enough to dodge the primed weapon. Slowly, he grabbed the regulator from his belt, keeping one finger extended, knowing he only had one shot. As Warp reached out to take the regulator, a small firebolt shot out from the redhead's fingertip directly into the nozzle of the shocker unit.

The supervillain staggered backwards as it fizzled with electricity, and Firewing was already off, snatching his communicator as he threw himself off the roof, tumbling downwards. At the broken window he righted himself, flying through it and into his sister's tight grasp.

"X'hal, you had me so worried!" Nightstar told him as she squeezed her eyes shut, relieved that her baby brother was safe.

"I'm fine, S'urukori [6]," he promised, pulling away to look at Robin, who was fiddled with the Clock of Eternity. "What're you doing?"

"Almost finished…"

"You impudent brats!" Warp hovered outside the window, smoke rising from his mustache. "I'll rewrite your entire time streams! I'll make sure you are never born! I'll—"

"Be going now," the masked Titan finished, hurling the golden clock at the Frenchman, who caught it easily and laughed.

"You think a clock can stop a time traveler?"

Robin grinned. "It doesn't need to stop you - it just needs to send you away. Because honestly, it's past time you left."

A chime echoed forth from the clock as it began to glow a brilliant gold. The light soon enveloped Warp, and it grew brighter as the supervillain screamed, forcing the heroes to cover their eyes. When they looked back, Warp was gone.

"Woah," Firewing breathed, amazed. "That. Was. So. _Cool_."

"Where'd you send him?" Nightstar asked.

"Far enough back in time that his tech shouldn't be able to find anymore temporal disturbances to piggyback off of for at least a millennium."

Laughing, the girl threw her arms around Robin, who froze before he gently returned the hug. A flash made him look up to see Nightwing standing there with Starfire and a Cyborg outfitted in new tech. The masked man took the picture out from the camera's slot and said, "Sorry it took us so long."

"Dad dad dad!" Firewing—simply Andy once more—exclaimed, zooming forwards. "We totally just beat the bad guy! You should've seen it; Mar'i was all 'uh-oh' and I was like 'bam' and Robin was like 'bye-bye'!"

Cyborg fell to his knees, his jaw slack as he stared at the destruction. "What happened to my tower?"

"Well, at least you don't have to fix the regulator," Robin tried to comfort him.

"Oh yeah!" Andy handed it over to the devastated man. "Here you go, Uncle Vic."

Nightstar pursed her lips. "Guess you have to go home now."

"Guess so. See you around, Nightstar."

"You can call me Mar'i now that the villain's gone, y'know."

"Yeah," Robin agreed with a smile, ruffling her hair once. "But you'll always be Nightstar to me."

Her lips finally quirked upwards at that, and Nightwing stepped forwards to hand Robin the photo he'd snapped. "So you don't forget," the man explained as Cyborg opened up the time portal.

He put it in one of the pockets of his belt. "Thanks. I'm looking forward to reaching this future."

"And reach it you shall," Star said, giving him a gentle hug (for her). "Good-bye, young Robin. Please wish me from the past well."

Andy bumped his fist. "See you again when I'm born. Try to practice your video games skills while you wait."

Laughing, he turned to go when he felt a hand grab his wrist. Robin glanced back at his future daughter, who told him, "Thanks for letting me be a hero, Dad."

"No problem, Starshine." [7]

Her eyes widened at the petname as he stepped through the portal, and Cyborg twisted his arm, sending a beam of light after him before it collapsed and disappeared. "What was that?" Nightstar asked.

"Something to keep the past intact," her father answered. "Now, are you ready for me to let you be a hero _again_?"

A grin split the girl's face in two as she said, "Oh, definitely."

* * *

Cyborg clasped Star's shoulder, making her jump, and told her, "He's gonna be fine, Starfire. They both are."

Suddenly, the spot where the time vortex had been glowed white. The light quickly passed over them, sweeping across the bay and past the two Titans flying back to the Tower after handing Warp over to the authorities, reaching the villain himself as he smiled and detected in it another temporal disturbance he could use to escape. It traveled all throughout Jump City before it disappeared.

The police officer who'd been at the museum shook his head in confusion, looking down at Raven and Beast Boy's statements. He frowned at the name Nightstar, muttering, "I really need a vacation," as he corrected it to Starfire.

The cops driving the prison transport vehicle Warp had been in shook their heads as one inquired of the other, "What are we here doing again?"

On the roof of Titan's Tower stood Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg, who were soon joined by Beast Boy and Raven. "Why are you guys up on the roof?" asked Beast Boy.

"I—" Starfire hesitated, blinking. "We were waiting for you, I believe…"

"Yeah," Cyborg agreed. "You guys done talking to the police?"

Raven sighed. "The officer was pretty peeved that we didn't have a villain to turn over."

"The fault is mine; I did not know my kick would damage his technology so that he would vanish into the past."

"Don't sweat it, Star," Robin finally spoke up, taking the redhead's hand. "The important part is that we beat the villain."

Cy clapped his hands together. "And that's cause for celebration! How's an early dinner sound?"

"Long as there's no meat, I'm game!"

"What's dinner without meat?"

"And here they go again," muttered the sorceress as Beast Boy began defending his vegetarian lifestyle. She followed the two arguing Titans out the door, leaving the couple alone on the roof.

The Tamaranean glanced at the other in concern. "Are you alright, Boyfriend Robin?"

"Yeah," he replied, giving her a warm kiss. "I'm fine. Let's go eat."

That night, as Robin was preparing for bed, he hung up his costume. Taking his belt, he began to restock his weapons when he came across a piece of paper stuffed into one of his spare pockets. It appeared to be a recently taken photo; the glossy image showed him in standing in a destroyed Ops Room being hugged by a girl wearing Star's outfit. She had the redhead's eyes but long curly black hair instead, and they were both smiling in the photo.

Confused, he turned it around, searching for a time stamp of some sort. Instead he found a note written in what looked like his own handwriting:

_If you ever want to meet this girl, don't train her until you take this picture. —NW_

Who was NW? And how the hell had he or she managed to stuff the photo into his belt? Flipping it back around, the unmasked Titan stared at the girl with narrowed eyes. Her hair was as dark as his; her eyes were as green as Starfire's. Indeed, she looked like—like a combination of them both."It can't be," he said aloud, but he carefully tucked the picture away into his secret safe, deciding to follow the mysterious NW's advice. After all, he didn't have a name to he could search for. Still, it wouldn't hurt to check out the database…

When Robin finally shut down his laptop and went to sleep, he dreamed of a baby girl born under a night sky, with big green eyes and a cap of dark curls and a smile that made the stars shine.

* * *

**And that's that. What'd you guys think? This little glimpse into the future will hopefully become a different idea I have for a future story, once I get done with everything I wanna do with the Teen Titans. But now that we've seen a Titan's daughter, it's time to met a villain's in:**

Episode Three: "Hello, Robin" - _Slade resurfaces with a new opponent for the Titans to face; however, it's not his apprentice_—it's his daughter.__

**Some of you DC fans probably know who's gonna appear. In the next episode we're getting into the main plot of season six. Stay tuned! ;)  
**

* * *

[1] The metal manica and plating is the same kind that covers Blackfire's arms, torso, and upper legs.

[2] Reference to the episode "Birthmark"

[3] The left image in the picture "Starfire - Beyond" by deviantARTist ReverendTrigster is the future costume design I chose for Starfire (save for the gorget, which remains the same). Check it out; it's beautiful artwork.

[4] Brownie points to whoever can guess the Titaness!

[5] Reference to a reference made in the episode "Crash"

[6] Since Starfire, Blackfire, and Wildfire all have the suffix "and'r" in their Tamaranean names, I deduced that it meant "fire", which means the first part of Star's name, "kori", means "star"; thus, I added it to my made-up Tamaranean word for night, "s'uru", to create "S'urukori", which means "Nightstar" in Tamaranean. By Andy calling his sister this, he is recognizing her as a hero.

[7] "Starshine" is the actual nickname Nightwing calls Nightstar by in the original comics, which is why she was surprised when Robin used it.


	3. Episode 3

**The answer to the las****t A/N's q****uestion was the episode Cyborg. Thanks to everyone whose favorited, followed, and read _Surfacing Shadows_—and a special thanks to Jade Pulse, ****Themadzlove, and Penelope Rohdes for their awesome reviews! (anon, I'm not sure what yours was about O-o) ******IMPORTANT: Beast Boy has just turn sixteen, not fifteen as previously stated.****

**I know I said updates would be slow, but I promise I didn't mean _this_ slow. Sorry this next episode took forever to come out; college is looming close on the horizon for me...as in happening this fall. Commencing with our story, it has only been a few days since Nightstar came to call, and little has happened since then. Now, that's all about to change…**

* * *

**Episode Three: "Hello, Robin"**

_Slade resurfaces with a new opponent for the Titans to face; however, it's not his apprentice_—it's his daughter.__

* * *

The girl stood in the darkness, her one visible eyelid shut and head bowed. A light flickered on from above, illuminating her figure, and that one eyelid slowly lifted to reveal a gray-blue iris. White hair hung just past her shoulders, the top of it along with her face from the nose up covered in a cloth bandanna-like mask tied in place with two bronze ribbons. The right half from which she could see through was the same color, while the other side that shrouded her left eye was black. Her torso was covered by a skin-tight light blue shirt that reached down to envelop her fingers, which itself was covered by body armor: dark metal plates covering her shoulders, as well as a lighter neck guard whose shade matched the rims of the armored black cropped tank she also wore. Her gauntlets were made of the same design, extending from right below her elbows down to the backs of her hands; the pants and boots she wore were as equally black, the outsides of each thigh and the tops of each shoe covered by metal plating that matched the knee guards. A gray utility belt was slung around her narrow waist, and two scabbards were strapped to her back to carry her dual katanas. [1]

"I am ready," the girl said, her voice a smoky tenor.

"What is your name?" a different voice asked from the shadows. This one was male, low and clear, with calm cadence that would have been charismatic if it didn't sound so sinister.

"The Ravager," she replied.

"What do you do?"

"Ravage," came her answer.

"Who shall you ravage?"

"Whoever you wish."

The owner of the male voice stepped out into the light at her side, his right eye gleaming through the bronze half of a mask colored the same as hers, though his covered his entire face. "And if I send you to face the Teen Titans?"

Ravager's eye met his as her pale lips twisted upwards in a smirk. "Then you wish them to fall—and fall they shall."

"That's my girl."

* * *

Robin was updating the print version of Warp's criminal file. Changing the Frenchman's status from "UNKNOWN" to "0 B.C." brought him a sense of accomplishment. He put the folder back in the cabinet, and the sense faded as he caught sight of the name "Slade Wilson" while flipping through the W's. The status was still labelled "UNKNOWN" for him, as had been the case for nearly a year now. Maybe he should run down some leads, see if there were any clues as to where Slade had gone…

The Boy Wonder was just reaching for the folder when a knock startled him from his thoughts. "Boyfriend Robin? Are you finished adjusting Warp's file so that we may all go out for the pizza? Our friends are most eager to leave."

Shutting the cabinet, Robin opened the door to his office and grinned at the girl before him. "Does that include Raven?"

Starfire giggled, her smile as radiant as ever as she grabbed his arm. "Let us go!"

"Sure thing, Sta_aaaaah_!" he yelled as she dragged him towards the garage, flying in her own eagerness to reach to parlour of pizzas and partake in the toppings of pickle, mint frosting, and banana.

They reached the T-Car in record time, Beast Boy having already claimed shotgun. Robin didn't mind; it meant he got to sit next to his beautiful girlfriend the whole ride over. She shoved him in first, and he almost fell onto Raven before his acrobatic reflexes caught him. The blue cloaked girl looked up from her book as the redhead hurriedly climbed. "Someone sure is hungry."

"I do have nine stomachs," Star replied, resting her head against her boyfriend's shoulder and inhaling slightly. Hair gel, a whisp of cologne to try and douse the musk that came with the job, and underneath it all a scent that was solely Robin's: her favorite odor on this world.

"Alright, let's roll."

Beast Boy morphed into a golden (or rather green) retriever as they emerged from the underground tunnel onto the street, sticking his head out the window as he enjoyed the breeze blowing across his face. He was careful not to drool as he panted, remembering how many hours of boredom he'd suffered through hand washing the entire T-Car even though he'd only gotten slobber on the right windows.

Raven continued to read her book, a old translation containing both volumes of the first edition of _Children's and Household Tales_ by the Brothers Grimm; she'd found it in the back of one of the few bookshops in Jump she actually liked to visit. _Disney doesn't do them justice,_ she thought to herself as she flipped through the tale of Cinderella. _Beast Boy would no doubt laugh if he knew that I was reading fairy tales__…_ Realizing the direction of her thoughts, she narrowed her eyes and turned her focus back to the story.

Cyborg was thinking of Sarasim, someone he hadn't thought of in a while. It was probably because he'd read through her story again last night, a story he'd been a part of only briefly. She hadn't cared what his "armor" made him, and they had fallen for each other instantly though their times did not coincide. Even if Raven hadn't managed to bring him back, he still would've had to leave eventually. The young man sighed; still, getting in at least _one_ kiss would've been nice. [2]

Robin couldn't help but think of Slade even with Starfire nestled against him, and he wondered what the villain was up to. For if there was anything he'd learned from his mentor, it was that villains like Slade were _always_ up to something. Trying to focus on reality instead of worrying about the possibilities, he started to ask, "Star, do you—"

The alert ringtone cut off his question as the others Titans began beeping. The redhead sat straight up as Robin opened his communicator. "Cyborg, head for Wayne Enterprises."

"On it."

Beast Boy changed back into himself. "Hey, the last time we were there, wasn't it because Robin was…" He trailed off with an audible gulp as he caught sight of Robin's hard stare through the rear view mirror, squeaking, "Ah, never mind!" [3]

They arrived at the tall skyscraper, and police were already on the scene. The leader of the Titans approached the chief of police, surprised to see her here. "Captain Yindel?"**  
**

Ellen Yindel [4] looked up, relief crossing her face at the sight of the five teens. "Great, you're here. We've got a break-in; guards who made it out say there's only one man who used swords non-lethally to take out them out. Video feed is down, so you're going in blind. Administrators say police aren't cleared for the top floor level where our perp is, but you guys are. Any particular reason why?"

"We've helped this branch out before," Robin easily lied before turning to Star. "Give me a lift?"

"Certainly." Taking his forearm in their usual trapeze hold, the Tamaranean channelled her joy into flight that propelled them upwards. Raven levitated behind them as Beast Boy changed into a pteranodon and grabbed Cy's shoulders before following the others

They landed on the roof, and the masked Titan popped out a lock pick from one of his glove's fingers, opening the roof door and leading the others into the building. Moving swiftly, he followed the trail of groaning bodyguards to find a girl standing in a large room empty save for the single pedestal in the middle. Her back was towards them as she fiddled with the safe perched on top, spinning the dial until the tumblers clicked.

"If that safe's contents were meant for you, you wouldn't have to break in," Robin told her, bo-staff at ready. At his flanks were the rest of the team, primed for the fight to begin.

The girl straightened, the hilts of her swords glinting in the light as she turned to face them. Each Titan gasped at the familiar bronze-and-black pattern that was only associated with one person—

"Slade." Fists tightened around the metal rod held in green gloves. "He sent you."

"Clever as always, Robin," the girl replied with a smile and the same superior tone that Slade's voice had.

"Are you supposed to be his new apprentice?" Beast Boy asked, thinking of Terra.

She chuckled softly. "I'm not a mere apprentice. I'm something much worse."

"What?" Robin demanded.

Her smile grew into a grin that looked slightly manic. "I'm the Ravager."

Before any of them could react, she'd flung several shuriken at them in the blink of an eye. The Titans dodged as their leader gave the command, "Titans, go!"

Beast Boy morphed into a rhinoceros, charging straight at Ravager, who ran to meet him. He changed into a crocodile at the last moment to trip her up, but while her feet did get caught on the large reptile, she stretched out her arms and turned her fall into a neat flip.

Acrobatically dodging both Cyborg's sonic cannon and Starfire's starbolts, the girl threw a set of bolas at each. The weight of the first dragged the redhead at out the air as the second threw the man machine off balance. Ravager jumped and delivered a swift kick to his chest that knocked him down before turning just as Raven chanted, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"

Two chairs from the hallway, encased in black energy, flew towards the villainess, who unsheathed her katanas with a soft whisper of steel. She calmly sliced the chairs in two, lowering her guard just as Robin's foot, hidden from view by the chairs, smashed into her stomach and threw her back with an "Oof!"

Rolling onto the ground, Ravager's eye narrowed in rage as Beast Boy, now in the form of lion, sprang at the fallen girl with a loud roar. Tilting back, she caught him with her feet and used his momentum and her angle to launch him into the wall. He reverted back to his human form with a moan.

Starfire drew on her confidence as she flexed her arms, breaking the bolas that had bound her as Cyborg too managed to escape his restraints. Robin was running towards Ravager with a snarl, lashing out with his bo-staff. He met resistance as she stopped him with a bo-staff of her own.

Their staves clashed together as they fought head-to-head, so close that none of the other Titans could risk getting a shot in. The Boy Wonder whipped his staff at her head, but the girl deflected it with a flick of her wrist before aiming the butt of her staff into his solar plexus. Robin fell to the ground with a grunt, wincing as a swift kick to his head put him down.

"Robin!" his girlfriend cried, her eyes crackling with green energy as they shot twin beams at the villainess, who used a single blade to redirect the blast back at the Tamaranean. Cyborg geared up his sonic cannon once more as Raven raised the broken pieces of the chairs, but Ravager flung out another set of shurikens, causing both their attacks to miss as she ran back to the safe and opened it.

Grabbing the vial, she stuffed it into her belt and said, "It's been fun, Titans, but playtime's over. I'll be sure to send my father your regards." With that the Ravager threw a handful of smoke bombs at the ground, flooding the entire room with a thick gas that made all five teens cough.

And when it had dispersed, she was gone.

* * *

Robin flinched at Raven's touch, relaxing as her glowing blue hands took away the pain from his stomach and face. "You should be fine."

"Thanks, Raven. What about Beast Boy?"

"Minor concussion which was easily healed. He's sleeping it off now."

"Good. You should get some rest, too; I know that healing takes a lot out of you."

"I'll be fine," she reassured him. Her violet eyes, unveiled, stared into his. "Will you?"

"We lost." His jaw clenched as he remembered how Ravager had taken them out long enough to escape. "It was five to one, and she got away."

"And we'll get her, Robin." The sorceress hesitated before dropping a hand to his shoulder. "We always do."

"I know." Robin let out a large whoosh of air and repeated, "I know. But it still sucks when we don't."

Raven removed her hand as she rose to her feet. "Don't take it out on yourself, okay?"

"Sure."

"And don't take it out on us."

She left the infirmary, and he rubbed his eyes beneath his mask as he recalled the day's events once more. He'd searched the database for the name Ravager and had gotten zero results. Then he'd scoured the Internet for Slade Wilson and found no record of any children. But that didn't mean anything, as Robin knew the man had been a mercenary before he began his conquest to take down the Titans. Batman had gone up against him in the past, which was the only reason he knew his surname. Neither the Titan's database nor the Doom Patrol's (which Mento had granted them 24/7 access to after they'd put their entire Brotherhood of Evil on ice [5]) had anything on Slade besides what he'd entered in himself.

There was only one other source: the Bat Computer.

Taking out his communicator, he set the transmission mode to private before adjusting the frequency. Hesitating for just a moment, Robin squared his chin and dialled the line that would lead to Gotham City.

Hundreds of miles north on the western seaboard [6], a black mini-laptop rang from the depths of a closet. The blonde girl in bed heard it and instantly awoke, her sapphire blue eyes wide. Scrambling out from under her sheets, she opened the door and pushed past the racks of dresses to the false wall behind them. Blowing the dust from the invisible electric panel, she pressed her hand against it, and a panel opened to reveal a mannequin that wore a red, yellow, and green outfit.

Below it was a table covered with various weaponry, and the blonde searched through it until she found the laptop. Running out of the closet, she made sure her room was locked before shutting the door and opening the laptop with a breathless, "Batm—_Robin_?"

"Hey, Bette," Robin greeted her, his lips quirked as he took in her flustered appearance. "I guess you weren't expecting to hear from me?"

Mary Elizabeth "Bette" Kane sat down on the carpet hard, still shocked. "I stopped expecting you to call years ago."

He winced at that. "I'm sorry I haven't kept in touch, it was just—"

"I know, Dick."

It'd been forever since he'd heard someone call him that. "Yeah. So how have you been?"

Bette smirked. "So this is a social call?"

He winced again. "Not entirely."

"It's alright," she said with a laugh. "We can make it both. But business before pleasure; what do you need?"

"Can you send me Slade Wilson's files from the Bat Computer?"

Her gaze flickered from the screen to the mannequin. "Uh, sure, but you know that he'll want to know why."

Robin frowned slightly. "Personal project?"

"You think that'll work? On _him_?"

"What if you just head over while he's not there?"

"And when he chases me back down, then what do I say?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

Sighing, Bette pushed back her bangs and told him wryly, "You never were good at contingencies."

"Thanks for the reminder," Robin replied, equally wry. "So can you do it?"

"Sure, I'll get the files, but why do you need them?"

"Our records are…incomplete. But how have you and Batwoman been?"

"Wow, you're really out of the loop!"

Bette burst into muffled laughter, and he raised an eyebrow beneath the domino mask. "What's so funny? I know I haven't kept tabs since I've left, but…"

"There's a new roster, Dick. And I—" she hesitated before continuing, "I'm not on it."

Both brows rose. "What do you mean? Are you...you're not—"

Her blonde hair shook as she nodded, unable to meet his eyes. "I'm not Batgirl anymore." [7]

"When did you stop?" She didn't reply, and Robin grew worried. "Bette, did something happen to put you out of commission?"

"Not what you're thinking. It's just…after you left—the _reason_ you left—it wasn't just about helping people anymore; it was about risking our lives. And then Aunt Kathy turned out to be a spy and went missing, and then Jason died, and then I just had to quit. I couldn't do it anymore. I couldn't take the constant loss anymore."

Questions tumbled through Robin's head. Kathy had been a spy? And who was Jason? But he didn't ask any of them as the blonde stared at her keyboard with glistening eyes. Instead, he comforted her as much as he could through a screen. "Hey, Bette, look at me. Look, I can't be sorry for leaving, because I had to go..."

"I know, Dick—"

"But I am sorry I never looked back. I'm sorry I left you behind to deal with everything, with _him_, all by yourself. I needed to leave, but I could've done it differently. Should've done it differently."

Wiping her eyes, Bette gave him a watery smile. "Thanks for saying that. But it's been good for me, being out of the gig, y'know?"

"Bette, you don't have to help me."

"Yeah I do." Their gazes met, held, as she whispered, "You _know_ I do."

A knock suddenly sounded on his door, and Robin quickly told her, "I have to go. And thanks."

"Talk to you soon?"

"Yeah." The laptop's screen went dark as the connection was ended, and the girl looked back at the mannequin. The red mask seemed to stare back at her, almost accusingly, and she rolled her eyes at it before she stood to go to bed.

Another girl was trying to encourage someone to do the same. "Robin?" Starfire timidly called from outside the door, wondering if she should knock again. "The hour is most late, and you have been in there for quite some time. Please, will you come out?"

The metal slid open from beneath her knuckles just as she was preparing to knock one more to show a flushed Robin standing in front of her. "Hey, Star. I was just getting ready to go."

"You…were?"

"Yeah," he said quickly as he stepped out of the room. "I'm beat."

His girlfriend's eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion. "Were you speaking with someone? I thought I heard the voice of another. A female."

Robin's nervous laughter did nothing to soothe her concerns. "There's no one else in the Tower besides us and the other Titans, Star."

"Yes, but—"

"And I'm really beat. Thanks for coming to get me." He pressed a kiss to her cheek before asking, "Walk me to my room?"

Starfire tossed her vibrant red hair as she said in a most annoyed tone of voice, "I believe that you know the way yourself."

The Boy Wonder silently groaned as the Tamaranean stalked down the hallway. She had obviously noticed his evasiveness at answering her question and now seemed to be very angry with him. Running a hand down his face, Robin heaved a loud sigh before deciding to worry about his relationship dilemmas in the morning.

Meanwhile, Raven was just finishing her nightly meditation. She undressed save for her leotard, as Robin wanted them to be ready to go at any moment now that Slade was back in town. As the sorceress laid down to sleep, she briefly thought of the Ravager. Here was a young girl with an evil father, no doubt raised to believe she would assist him in doing terrible things once she was older.

_Sound like anyone?_ came Knowledge's voice from within Nevermore.

Happy giggled. _She sounds just like us!_

_Who would've guessed,_ Rude bit back.

Raven groaned in annoyance. Her emotions always grew louder in the minutes it took her to relax into an unrestrained sleep. Hoping (as she did every night) that engaging them in discussion would tire them out, she muttered aloud, "We don't even know for certain if she _is_ Slade's daughter."

_After his whole fiasco with Trigon, we're surprised he'd even showed his face again! _yelled Brave.

_He hasn't yet,_ Knowledge pointed out.

"And hopefully won't. But we should go to sleep in the meantime, so that we can be rested in case he does appear."

The Yellow and Green Ravens voiced their agreement as the orange one mumbled something rude while the pink one began listing all the good dreams she wanted to have.

And the Blue Raven? She was already taking her own advice.

* * *

The next morning was tense, though not for the reasons the Titans had expected. Instead of finding a Robin prepared to "whip them into shape" to beat Ravager, the found a Robin begging his girlfriend to forgive him.

"What's the trouble in paradise?" Beast Boy asked as he ate his egg-substituted breakfast—tofu scramble—while watching the redhead give their masked leader the dreaded silent treatment.

Cyborg shrugged his broad shoulders. "Beats me. You know anything, Raven?"

"Only that it's probably Robin's fault," she replied, sipping her tea as she watched their two teammates began to bicker on the couch.

"Hey, it's not always the guy's fault!" the half-metal man replied in defense of all males.

Rolling her violet eyes, Raven monotonously stated, "Well, it's _Robin_ who's apologizing."

Indeed it was. "Star, won't you just look at me for a second?"

"Why?" the Tamaranean asked, still refusing to face her boyfriend. "It is not as if you wish to tell me the truth."

"There's nothing to tell!" Robin hissed, trying to keep their fight quiet so that the three busybodies in the kitchenette wouldn't catch wind of what they were discussing; the last thing he needed was everyone else being mad at him, too. "You're blowing things out of proportion."

"I am not inflating the circumstances at all!" Her voice grew louder in outrage as she finally turned to meet his eyes with her own vividly glowing. "It is _you_ who is making the deal large with your refusal to answer my question!"_  
_

"I told you there was no one!"

"Yet I am aware of there being devices that enable you to call others—I wear one in my collar everyday! Do you believe me to be so ignorant? So…_stupid_?"

"No!" he shouted desperately as Robin finally realized how hurt Star was. "No, that's not it—"

"Then why will you not tell me, Robin?"

The alert went off before he could answer, and the Boy Wonder gritted his teeth in frustration as he was forced to turn his attention to the monitor. "Robbery in progress at LexCorp. Raven, can you teleport us there?"

He knew it severely lessened the sorceress's stamina, but they couldn't let Ravager steal any more high-end tech. A dark soul-self enveloped the five Titans for just a moment before it disappeared, leaving them standing inside the building. Downed guards scattered the narrow corridor, and Robin lead the team through it, turning the corner in time to see the Ravager dispatch another guard with ease. "Hold it!"

The villainess looked up at his shout, smiling slightly as she sheathed her blades. "Hello again, Titans. Back for round two?"

"You bet," Cyborg said as he primed his sonic cannon. "And this time, we won't be holding back."

"Maybe not," she agreed, turning her back to them. "But you _will_ be falling behind."

With that she leapt forwards, agilely weaving her way through the lasers that blocked the path. Robin moved first in pursuit, warning the others, "Don't touch the lasers: system will automatically lock you out!"

Cy muttered, "Well, damn," as he quickly recognized his girth could not fit through the narrow paths. "Looks like y'all will have to continue on without me. I'll try to find another way in."

Beast Boy clapped his shoulder with a quick, "See ya, dude," before morphing into a bat and following Robin's lead. Raven's soul-self enveloped her as she and Starfire did the same, the redhead following at a much slower pace as she had to weave to avoid the red beams.

Having cleared that part of the path, the Boy Wonder took off after the Ravager. She kept her lead, taking out guards without pause as he dodged them without difficulty. Raven and Beast Boy soon caught up, the latter sprinting forwards in cheetah form. With a gleam in her eye, the villainess whacked him on the head with her bo-staff, electricity coursing from the metal to the changeling. She ran on as he fell to the ground, changing back to pat his slightly charred hair and moan, "Smelling like meat is worse than eating it!"

Since Beast Boy was speaking, the other two decided he was fine and continued after the girl. Raven took a turn at trying to stop her, lifting her hand as she cried, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"

Ravager whipped out a katana, dodging the first bolt and blocking the second. Deciding that it was time to put an end to this chase, the sorceress phased into the floor to reappear in front of the girl with glowing white eyes. "Stop!"

"No can do, Sunshine," was the response before she flipped over the blue-cloaked girl, twirling her blade to redirect the dark energy shot her way so that it struck a sensor beyond them. A strange sigil began to draw itself from one wall to the next, slowly barring the rest of the corridor.

The villainess made it through along with the masked Titan, but Raven was forced to stay behind as she realized that the sigil was a ward against magic. "Trigon be damned," she groaned as she watched the two disappear around the corner.

Having suspected the dilemma the sorceress faced, Robin gritted his teeth and ran even faster as the corridor widened out into a small room with a glass ceiling thirty feet up. Just like in Wayne Enterprises, the room was bare save for a single pedestal standing in the center, and atop it was a safe. Ravager was lowering her hand from her ear when he entered the room, withdrawing both blades as she turned to confront him.

With a loud cry, the Boy Wonder pulled out two birdarangs, combining them into a sword as he attacked. Anticipating her block, he redirected his blade to the side she'd blocked with. This way she couldn't use her other sword to—but wait! He ducked down as the second katana whizzed right above his head, unable to complete his strike. _She's fast,_ he thought to himself as he somersaulted backwards to avoid her downwards strike. _Can't underestimate her speed like that again._

Ravager was having fun, but there was a job to do. Parrying his single sword with her first, she swung the other at his side, knowing he'd have to stumble back to evade, which gave her the opportunity to lift her boot and plant it in his chest. Robin fell to the ground with a grunt, and she regretted having to use the dirty move. Still, winning the fair way would've taken to long. But there's always a next time, she reminded herself as she gave the signal.

The ceiling above splintered as Robin lifted himself off the ground, and he looked up to see a hook come spiralling down from a long coiled rope. With quick and efficient movements, Ravager attached it to the safe as the masked Titan was forced to use his cape to shield himself from the glass shards that rained down. By the time it was safe, the alarms were blaring and the villainess was already halfway up to the roof.

"You're not getting away this time!" he yelled as he withdrew one of his lengthier grappling hooks, aiming for the remainder of the ceiling. With a simple click he was pulled into the air as below him a metal panel began sealing off the door. Zip-lining through the air, Robin's eyes narrowed behind his mask as he followed the girl.

"Just don't know when to give up, do ya?" Ravager taunted as she reached the roof and the helicopter that waited for her. Placing the safe inside, she turned back to plant an explosive just above the spot where his grappling hook was fixed in place. "Well, you still get a certificate for participating. Enjoy!"

She hopped in the cockpit as the pilot took off, grinning wickedly as she detonated the charge.

Robin's eyes widened at the explosion as the line in his grip went slack. Before he could even open his mouth to shout, a pair of warm hands caught him beneath his arms, and he looked up to see Starfire's determined face as she continued to fly upwards despite the crumbling debris.

"Uh, Star?" he squeaked as imminent death (well, at least for _him_) bore down on the from above. "Shouldn't we be heading the opposite direction?"

Her only reply was the increase her speed as they dodged the chunks of stone and brick. Still, he couldn't see how they were supposed to dodge the entire roof. Before he could become positive that this was her attempt at getting back at him for their earlier fight, he was flung towards the wall.

"Ah!" Robin yelled as he crashed through the vent feet first, sliding inside. The redhead was right behind him as the rest of the roof collapsed behind her, and her entrance sent the two Titans tumbling down the shaft. Their trip was punctuated by their screams as they fell head-over-end out into the open air.

"What the he—" was all the Boy Wonder heard before he crashed onto a hard metallic object. Groaning as his girlfriend landed atop him, he blinked and found himself staring into the eyes of Cyborg's uncomfortably close face, their lips just brushing.

"_Gah_!" the two shouted as they sprang apart.

Starfire flew backward with a short squeal of surprise, managing to catch herself with her flight. She watched in confusion as the young men refused to even look at each other before Raven and Beast Boy joined them.

"What's wrong with those two?" Raven asked dryly as she pulled down her hood.

"I do not know. After Robin and I fell out of the ventilation shaft, he fell atop Cyborg and—"

"That's it!" her boyfriend quickly cut in with a slightly maniacal laugh. "We fell, that's all, ha ha ha! Nothing more to say about that, ever again!"

"Dude," Beast Boy began, scratching his head, "you're being weird, even for you."

"No I'm...wait, what's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing!"

Pursing his lips at the changeling's quick answer, Robin put the comment aside for now to address the issue at hand. "Ravager got away, _again_. Where were you guys?"

"Hey!" the green Titan immediately yelped, instantly on the defensive. "I was charred to a crisp by her staff thingy, which I didn't even _know_ was electrified since _you_ never told us they were, dude!"

"Mine isn't," grumbled their leader.

"Well, that ward blocked me out," Raven told him. "The only way I could have continued was as a soulless vessel, and then I wouldn't have been much help."

Sighing, Robin confessed, "I figured as much," before reluctantly shifting his attention to their tallest teammate. "Ah, Cyborg?"

The man grew flustered as he launched into his explanation. "Uh, well, you see, I was trying to find another way in when you and Star came falling out. So, yeah, sorry I ki—_c_ouldn't make it."

"Oh!" he replied in a voice that was pitched way too high. Clearing his throat as he tugged on the collar of his uniform, Robin tried again. "Oh. Well, don't worry about that. At all. Let's just never speak of this again."

"Agreed," Cyborg huffed in relief before a smirk displaced his discomfort. "Besides, B.B. has the worst excuse of all."

Before the offended Beast Boy could reply, the sorceress asked, "Can we _go_ now?" **(A/N: Raven asked the same question in "Spellbound", eager to get back to her book. But what was waiting for her within its pages? Hint: Everything was not what it seemed with this character.)**

"Yeah, let's go home."

At Robin's words, she spread out her soul-self, enveloping all of her friends within it before flying them at the speed of thought back to the tower. Depositing her friends in the Main Ops Room, Raven told them, "I'll be in my room," before she disappeared.

"Hey, Cy, wanna watch the latest episode of _Stunt Fest_ I recorded? This time they're trying to swim up the entire Amazon, and I heard there's gonna be piranhas!"

"Sorry, Beast Boy, but I need him to help me narrow down the Ravager's next targets."

Pointed ears drooped at the masked Titan's words, and Starfire kindly offered, "I would be most willing to do the hanging out with you."

Beast Boy perked right back up. "Awesome! I know exactly what we can do."

Grabbing her hand excitedly, he tugged her out of the room as she threw one last glance at Robin, who was already walking towards the computer terminals with Cyborg. Holding in her sigh, Star couldn't help but smile at her youngest friend's exuberance as he ordered her to, "Wait here, I'll be right back!"

Realizing that they were near Raven's room, she floated to the girl's door to knock upon it. "Greetings, friend!" the redhead chirped as the cloaked figure appeared. "I and Beast Boy are doing the hanging out; do you wish to—"

"Thanks, but no thanks," came the stilted reply before the door slid back shut.

Starfire stared at the name engraved upon the metal for a few seconds in disappointment before the changeling's voice came from down the hall. "Hey Star, I found Silkie, c'mon!"

Giggling in anticipation of the fun that was sure to be had, she took off towards the sound of his voice. Whatever her green friend had planned would surely succeed in taking her mind off of Robin. The Tamaranean was not sure what bothered her the most about his half-truths: the fact that he was indeed lying to her by omission, or the fact that the reason involved a female who was not her.

The magazines for teenagers only lead to the possibility of "cheating", but Starfire knew that was not the case—it had taken over three Earth years for Robin to accept his feelings for _her_. The only causes for her concern was that she did not recognize the voice with whom he'd been conversing and that he would not even admit that he'd been conversing at all.

"Finally!" Beast Boy's shout interrupted the alien's thoughts, and she blinked rapidly upon realizing that she was now standing in front of his room. "What was the hold up?"

Her understanding of his figurative language was a testimony to how much she had learned since her arrival to this planet. "I was merely thinking, Friend Beast Boy—an activity that perhaps you should participate in more?"

"Ha ha, very funny," he grumbled before pulling her into his room and sat her on his lower bunk beside Silkie. "Now, prepare to learn how to play the most epic game ever created!"

"I thought that the game of 'stankball' was the most epic game ever to be created?"

Beast Boy scowled at the innocent smile she gave him and told her, "You've _definitely_ been hanging out around Raven too much."

"Not as much as you have," Starfire replied, even more amused to see the hot flush that rose in his green cheeks at her words.

"Enough about Raven; let's teach you how to play 'mucusball', the new and improved version of stankball that I just made up! Ready to learn how to play?"

Hesitating as her bumgorf wriggled onto her lap, she pet the larva and said, "While I am most eager to play this 'ball of mucus', please, what is Silkie needed for?"

The Tamaranean knew she would not like the answer as the changeling's fang poked out in a disturbingly wicked manner. "My dear, just where do you think the mucus comes from?"

* * *

"Found anything yet?"

"Program's still running," Cyborg answered, and Robin sighed before he continued pacing. A red mechanical eye followed him for a while before he was asked, "So, what's going on between you and Starfire?"

He came to a halt and automatically replied, "Nothing."

"So she's just giving you the silent treatment for no reason?"

Robin's teeth ground together at the growing smirk on his friend's face. "There's a reason."

"Which would be...?"

Cy's grin faltered at the frosty glare the Boy Wonder sent him. "_None of your business_."

"Alright, man," the taller Titan replied with his hands raised in a gesture of peace. "No need to bite my head off."

Robin resumed pacing for a couple more seconds before he sighed again and muttered, "Sorry. It's just—"

"I know. Slade's back, and it's stressing you out, not to mention the 'nothing' that's going on between you and Star." Ignoring Robin's withering glance, Cyborg continued, "Take a break — go have a nap or eat something—and by the time you come back the program should be finished."

"Alright," the masked leader sighed, before repeating in a firmer tone, "Alright. Call me if—"

"Anything changes, I know, I know. Now _go_."

With a slight quirk of his lips, he left the Ops Room to head towards his own. The knots in his stomach had made it very clear that food should be the last thing on his mind right now, and Robin knew that nothing short of a hard workout or a power nap would keep him busy enough to stop him from "stressing". Since he wanted to be fresh for combat in case the Ravager made yet another appearance, that left napping (which was the only other option that the older teen had given him). The urge to walk through what was probably the only door with a handle in the entire Tower and enter his office was stifled as he passed it to collapse onto his bed.

Just as his eyes were falling shut behind his mask, three quick raps came from the door. Now Robin stifled a groan as he rolled to his feet to open the door. "The program can't have—Starfire?"

"Greetings," the redhead replied with just a hint of nerves. "In order to reconcile, we must do the talking now, please."

His mouth gaped open as a surge of nerves struck him. "I, um, yeah. Sure, sure, come in."

She smiled at him just enough to make her green eyes glint, which did little to slow the racing pace of his heart. He tried to settle it as she finally coughed gently and made him realize that he had yet to move aside so that she could enter the room.

He felt his face flush as he quickly stepped aside, and Star glided by him in a whiff of fruity exoticness that made his pulse pound all the harder—but was there was something else that smelled sorta like...Silkie? Shaking his head slightly to get his thoughts back in order, Robin turned to face her, and the door slid shut behind him as he asked, "What do you want to talk about?"

"The female with whom you were conversing the previous night."

Robin winced. His girlfriend wasn't one to beat around the bush. "She's just an old friend of mine."

One small red eyebrow rose. "So you are finally willing to admit that this female exists?"

He winced again. "It's not that I—I didn't lie, I just didn't—it was just some girl from my past, okay? Nothing to be discussed."

"I see." Starfire's voice had grown quiet as her eyes had grown sad. "The reason for your unwillingness to speak on the subject is not because of this girl, but rather because she is a part of your past...as past you do not wish to share with me."

"That's not it!" the Boy Wonder frantically denied, grabbing her shoulders as if he could transfer his thoughts to her with a touch. "I just didn't want—"

A knock sounded on the door, and then came Cyborg's voice saying, "Yo, program actually didn't take that long. Got the list of possible targets right here. Care to help me narrow them down?"

"Can you just gimme a minute?"

"It is fine, Robin," the redhead said in a decidingly not fine tone. "Catching the Ravager holds priority over this."

Remembering the oath he'd sworn to himself the day he'd begun dating her, Robin lifted his hands to cup her face as he told her, "_Nothing_ takes priority over you, Star."

Some of the pain faded from her green gaze at his words, and she leaned forward to press a fleeting kiss upon his lips. "You can explain it to me when you are ready."

Starfire lifted her own hands to removed his and give them a quick squeeze before floating to the door, halting as he asked, "And you'll wait till then?"

Turning around, she smiled at him and said, "I have always waited for you, Robin."

She left at that, passing by the sheepish-looking half-robot who asked his young leader, "Sorry, man, did I interrupt something?"

"It's fine, Cyborg," he replied with a sigh, still feeling guilty at having caused his girlfriend such distress. "Let's get to work."

* * *

"Wayne Enterprises, LexCorp, and now Star Labs? These gigs are getting more and more secure—oh, please tell me you're not testing me _again_."

"Would that be a problem?" Her father's tone turned cold, and she knew what she had to answer.

"Of course not...it'd just be _annoying_."

"Part of the job, sweetheart. You know the layout?"

"You know I do."

"And if the Titans arrive?"

The smile the girl wore turned deadly. "They won't be a problem at all."

"Never underestimate your opponents," he warned her through the earpiece as she entered the building, having already disabled the security measures.

Snorting past her mask, she flipped through the laser grid and landed before the room that held her prize behind. "I've faced them twice, and both times they've failed to stop me."

As she broke the lock to open the doors, a familiar voice responded, "Well, you know what they say: third time's the charm."

Robin grinned as the Ravager scowled, examining the nearly bare room which held only the pedestal, the safe, and the Teen Titans. She raised a hand to her ear and said, "I'll have to call you back, Daddy."

"'Daddy'?" Beast Boy snickered.

She charged them with a snarl, and the Boy Wonder cried, "Titans, take her down!"

"With pleasure," Cyborg grunted, firing his sonic cannon in a few rapid-fire shots. Ravager dodged them all, but in doing so put herself in the path to be struck by a starbolt. She skidded backwards, visible eye narrowing as the alien princess launched a volley.

The villainess withdrew a single katana to deflect the bolts she could not dodge, then whipped it around to block the claws of the green saber-toothed cat. Beast Boy snarled into her face as he pressed down his weight, but she used it to throw him off her as she bent backwards. The Ravager was forced to turn the move into a series of backflips to avoid the starbolts and amplified waves of sound shot in her direction, but was caught once more as telekinetic strands of black energy wrapped around her body to hold her in place.

Straining to reach her belt, she managed to pull out a disc and slid it towards Raven, detonating a shock blast that freed her from her restraints. Ravager turned in time to receive another blow from the big green cat, and this time she was not able to dodge it. His claws could not cut through her armor, but she was thrown off balance. Cursing inwardly, she drew her second sword as Robin charged forward and Beast Boy lunged.

Parrying Robin's strike first, she whirled away from Beast Boy's swipe and kicked out at him. The masked Titan grabbed her leg immediately, trying to yank her down, but the Ravager was prepared. Instead of trying to pull free, she let herself be pulled, leaning forward so that she could stab his torso. His own sword managed to push her first blade aside, but the other was already coming down in an overhead swing, forcing him to backflip to safety.

Ravager did not halt her advance, knowing the others wouldn't risk interfering as long as she kept the fight close combat. Robin split his sword back into two birdarangs so he could block both her katanas at once, though this limited reach forced him to stay largely on the defensive. He waited until their weapons locked to shift tactics, dropping down so he could sweep. She dodged easily, but her guard fell just enough for him to go on the offensive. He pushed forward so that the Ravager was forced to move backwards so that he wouldn't slip through.

Beast Boy, who'd been circling for an opening until then, pounced upon the one his leader gave him. Shifting into a dragonfly, he flew behind the villainess and positioned himself so that when he turned into a crocodile this time, she tripped over his body. Changing back to his human form, he crowed, "Gotcha!"

She cursed under her breath as her fall sent a sword tumbling from her grip, back on her feet in an instant only to realize she'd lost the close combat advantage. Raven and Starfire combined their powers to send a laser of crackling green and black energy her way. Ravager ran to avoid it and succeeded, but found herself facing a sonic cannon.

"Booyah," was the warning Cyborg gave her before he fired. She brought her sword up in time to block, but the blast still sent her sliding. Before she could get her bearing, Robin's foot slammed into her solar plexus, and her katana clattered to the ground as she dropped to her knees.

"Time for you to make your exit, sweetheart," Slade informed her in an even tone.

Despite her wheezing, Ravager still tried to tell him, "B-But I...I can still..."

"Stay free to fight another day, but only if you leave _now_."

Gritting her teeth, she glared up at Robin as he said, "The only thing that's ravaged here is your plan. Tell Slade he shouldn't send his kid to do his dirty work for him."

"I'll be sure to give him your regards," she replied before releasing a set of smokes from her belt pocket.

By the time it cleared, the Ravager was gone. Starfire flew over to the pedestal to check that the contents of the safe were still inside. When she discovered they were, she crowed, "Victory!"

"You bet," Cyborg agreed with a wide grin. "We totally kicked Slade-girl's butt!"

"Bet she's gone home to cry to daddy," snickered Beast Boy, prompting even Raven's lips to twitch.

Their mirth died down as one by one they all looked towards their leader, who just turned around with a smile and said, "Good work, team. Now let's go home; I have a surprise for you guys."

* * *

Robin inputted the number into the computer console and adjusted the frequency before he glanced behind him at his friends. They all sat on the couch with various levels of curiosity. Even Raven had put down her book for the moment to see the surprise.

"C'mon, dude, we've been waiting for ten minutes already!" Beast Boy groaned, flopping back so that he began to slide off the couch. "You can't just leave us hanging!"

"Calm down," he ordered, taking a breath to appease his nerves before facing his team. "So, you all know that I used to work in Gotham alongside Batman before I came to Jump City."

"Yeah, yeah, cut to the chase!"

A vein began to throb, and the green Titan wisely shut up, allowing him to continue. "What you guys might not know is that we weren't the only heroes operating there. Batwoman and Batgirl fought alongside us at times, but they mostly did their own Dynamic Duo thing. However, we all kept in touch and helped out when needed."

Starfire's eyes widened as she began to see where this was going, while Raven glanced towards her book on the coffee table as if debating whether or not picking it up now would be considered rude. Robin gave her a look that answered her unspoken question before forging onwards.

"So, when we first ran into the Ravager, I called Batgirl to see if she could dig up any info from their files in Gotham, and—"

"Hold up a sec," the half-metal man interrupted, confused. "Why would Batman have files about Ravager?"

"Because he fought Slade before."

"_What_?!" Cyborg and Beast Boy both exclaimed. Now _this_ was something they had not known.

Robin cleared his throat in embarrassment, belatedly realizing he maybe should have informed them about this a lot sooner. "Slade's full name is Slade Wilson, and before setting up shop here, he was the mercenary known as Deathstroke."

The sorceress now looked interested and Cyborg horrified as he squeaked, "Deathstroke? You mean to tell me the guy we've been duking it out with is Deathstroke? The mercenary assassin Deathstroke '_the Terminator_'? Man, you have got to me kidding me!"

Gasping, the redhead asked, "Is an assassin not a person who murders people who hold positions of power or import?"

"Essentially," Raven answered. "So why are you telling us this now?"

"I don't like looking back at my sidekick days." Robin knew his excuse was pretty thin, but remembering what sent him running hurt too much to even think about much less explain. "That's why I don't regale you guys with stories from them. But as I said, I asked Batgirl for help last night, and she should be calling back in just a minute with whatever she found."

"We're gonna get to talk to Batgirl?" Beast Boy squealed, looking as if he was about to faint. "Wait, I'm not ready! I haven't even showered yet—she can't see me like this!"

"A shower can only change the way you smell," the blue cloaked girl snidely remarked. "You're stuck looking like that forever."

The changeling finished his slide off the couch by melting onto the floor, making his best friend laugh as an incoming call came through to the main display screen. With a squeak Beast Boy was back on the couch between Raven and Cyborg, the former of whom scoffed and raised her hood. If he didn't know her any better, the Boy Wonder would have sworn the sorceress was pouting, but that couldn't be the case. So he turned and took a deep breath before answering the call.

The red masked heroine that waited to greet him was just a tad surprising. Robin hadn't expected Bette to greet them her old costume, but he guessed that the Bat's lesson of the importance of keeping a secret identity secret had been drilled into her well. "Hey, Robin."

"Batgirl." He stepped back to gesture to his team. "I'd like you to meet the Titans: Starfire, Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Raven."

All four greeted the blonde in their own manner, and she smiled in response. "Nice to meet you guys. I'm already preparing to send you guys a copy of the files right now, but I figured you'd like to hear about the important stuff without having to comb through it all."

"Gretastic! I mean, Fanat! I mean—" Batgirl laughed softly, and Beast Boy literally retreated into his shell as he shifted into a turtle with an, "Eep!"

"So what'd you find?" asked Raven abruptly, trying hard to keep the scowl off her face. After all, there was absolutely no reason to be scowling. Especially not at the pretty blonde with the stupid bat-shaped mask and the ridiculously breathy laughter and yes she was scowling.

Fortunately, the other girl didn't seem to notice and simply answered, "According to our records, Slade had two sons named Grant and Joseph, but no daughter on record. However, the name Ravager was used by his oldest son for a short period of time before his death."

"Grant, huh?" Cyborg scratched the non-metallic half of his head and asked the others, "Does that name sound familiar to any of you?"

"Yes, but I cannot recall from where I know it," Starfire said, her lips slightly pursed. "Perhaps we have fought him before?"

Frowning, Robin muttered almost to himself, "If we had, why wouldn't he be in the records? I've kept track of every villain we've faced since we became a team, minor or major."

"Well, it makes sense that the name sounds familiar." They all turned to Batgirl, and the white film that masked her eyes narrowed as she told them, "Because Grant Wilson died in Jump City several years ago."

* * *

Walking into the lair, the Ravager came to a stop behind her father and bowed her head. He didn't speak for several moments, and the tension grew until he turned around to clasp her shoulder. "Well done."

"What?" she gasped, mouth falling open in shock. "B-but I lost!"

"It was only to be expected," he comforted as he moved around her.

The girl's fists clenched as she realized, "This was just another test."

"One you passed with flying colors, I might add." Slade gestured for Ravager to follow him, and she did so, still confused. "Teamwork should not be so underrated. Even I could not defeat the Teen Titans when I had to face all five of them head on, so I could hardly expect you to do so once they'd had enough time to...prepare. But you lasted far longer than I expected you to."

She wilted slightly at that. "So, you—you didn't believe in me. Didn't believe I could do it...didn't think I was _good_ enough to—"

"Oh, sweetheart," he sighed as he came to a stop in front of a large round metallic door. "You are an excellent combatant; few villains have managed to go up against the Titans single-handedly. But those who make up their usual rogues gallery are equipped with special tools or powers, which admittedly makes it easier to win against a team which has four superpowered beings itself. Their advantage does not mean you are lacking in skill. It just puts you at a disadvantage. And how do we fix disadvantages?"

The Ravager smiled. "We take away the factor that puts us at them in the first place."

"That is correct." Slade typed in the code, and lowered his head so his single retina could be scanned. "But we need to acquire the means to fight them head-on before we can put our grand plan into action."

The vault opened as his daughter asked curiously, "But didn't we need the tech from Star Labs for that?"

"It would have made a nice bargaining chip, yes, but it is not as crucial as the first two parts you stole." Walking amidst his impressive collection, the man paused in front of the pedestal that contained the parts of which he spoke.

"So they can be activated without the third piece?"

Her father reached into his belt and placed what looked like a metallic bar onto the item she'd lifted from LexCorp, and the logo glowed a bright green before the rod expanded to connect to one from Wayne Enterprises. Both parts began glowing the same green, sinisterly lighting the dim room. "They can, with the help of our new friend."

As the girl watched the technology begin to expand even further, she glanced at Slade from the corner of her eye and said with a grin, "Guess teamwork really is underrated."

* * *

**Quite an ominous ending, wouldn't you agree? I know RobStar's drama didn't get a neat-and-tidy resolution, but it has been resolved (even if the neat-and-tidy bit was off-screen). How do you like the Ravager so far, cause I personally have always loved her. She's just so badass, whether she's a villain or a hero! Speaking of heroes, we'll get to see how the one back east are doing in:**

Episode Four: "Honey &amp; Jam" - _Bothered by her needy team, Bumblebee looks for a bit of personal space and finds the Herald's multi-rift dimension instead._

**In case you couldn't tell from the description, I'm a Herald/Bee shipper. _Young Justice_ just further cemented it in my mind once I found out it was comic canon, and I already have a girl in mind for Cyborg. But you guys will have to stay tuned to find out who! xD**

* * *

[1] The Ravager's appearance comes from the _Teen Titans Go!_ comics; just search for her in the Teen Titans Wiki (the one for the TV series) to see the outfit described in this paragraph.

[2] Reference to the episode "Cyborg the Barbarian"

[3] Reference to the episode "Masks"

[4] In the comics, Ellen Yindel of Earth-31 was a police captain of Gotham and later the commissioner after James Gordon retired. She openly hated vigilantes, but obviously I changed things up here.

[5] Reference to the episode "Titans Together"

[6] I know Gotham's canon location is generally agreed to be somewhere in the Northeast, but for the sake of the story I made it just a few hours north of Jump City. One reason is because I like the idea of Metropolis and Gotham being on opposite ends of the country, and the other is because I didn't think Robin would travel across an entire continent just to get away from Bats. It seemed overkill, and it's generally agreed (at least according to the wiki) that Gotham and Jump City are located near each other in the TV series. So that's how it's gonna be.

[7] Yes, I'm using Bette Kane as the original Batgirl. I didn't want there to be any Barbara/Dick/Kory triangular stuff, and—if I'm being unbiased—Barb and Dick do make a really good pair though RobStar is forever my OTP; also, I didn't like what they did with Bette, who is the _first_ Batgirl, by pushing her to the side and turning her a blonde wannabe (while her aunt Kathy was turned into a freaking spy in the New 52, which I neatly reference). So basically I changed her costume into a cross between Stephanie Brown's Robin costume and Bette's original Batgirl one, added Barbara's canary yellow boots, and adjusted her personality so she's less of a romantic and more of a butt-kicker. The changes made to the Bat History will be expounded upon later on.


End file.
